Japanese man found hanged in Subang police lock-up

A 33-year old Japanese man detained for trespassing into a university in Sunway last week was found dead in the Subang USJ8 police lockup early this morning.

The man, Nobuhiro Matshushita, was apparently found hanging from the iron bars, by using his lock-up clothes, at 4am, according to Deputy Selangor police chief Datuk A.Thaiveegan.

Suicide was found to be the cause of his death, according to Thaiveegan in a New Straits Times report.

He said a post mortem performed by Universiti Malaya Medical Centre found the suspect had no other injuries or marks were found on his body.

"Police investigation ruled out foul play and the man was alright during a check carried out by the guards on duty an hour prior to the discovery," he said at a press conference today.

Nobuhiro had entered Malaysia using a social visit pass, according to police.

On Sunday, Nobuhiro was apparently alone at a workshop near Monash University. When approached by the Sunway auxiliary police, he allegedly pulled out a four-inch knife and threatened the police.

A group of auxiliary policemen was able to neutralise him and confiscated his weapon.

He was then detained in the Subang police station and remanded for three days for criminal intimidation and trespassing.

Initially, Nobuhiro was placed in a cell with other inmates. However, he was shifted to a separate cell after he allegedly made noise and disturbed the other inmates.

Police later obtained an extension to his remand order to facilitate investigation under Immigration Act.

Thaiveegan said police had informed the Japanese Embassy about the arrest and the consul visited Nobuhiro on Friday. The family has been notified of the death.

Thaiveegan also said that police had requested for a translator several times as the suspect did not speak English.

This is the fourth custodial death in four weeks.

The last was the death of a detainee in Negri Sembilan. On June 1, P. Karuna Nithi, 43, was found unconscious by policemen on duty at around 6.30pm the at Tampin police station lock-up and pronounced dead by paramedics later.

Last month, N. Dhamendran, 32, died while under remand at Kuala Lumpur police headquarters. His case was classified as murder following to a post mortem report that suggested Dhamendran has been beaten to death. Three policemen have been charged over the alleged murder while another is still at large.

In Penang, 40-year-old R. Jamesh Ramesh died in the state’s police contingent headquarters lock-up after suffering from liver failure. He was arrested over alleged drug offences and was allegedly ‘high’ while in custody.