In the wake of another death in police custody, Suaram has called on the government to legislate an anti-torture law to avoid any more deaths in police custody or in any other enforcement agencies.

Referring to the death of a robbery suspect A. Punniyanathan, 40 at the Nibong Tebal police station on Feb 10, Suaram coordinator R. Thevarajan also reiterated the movement’s call to Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to establish a permanent coroner’s court to look into cases of death in custody.

Thevarajan in a press statement called on the officer in charge at the Nibong Tebal police station to produce his lock-up diary to ensure no foul play took place in Punniyanathan’s death, whose body was found lying naked, a day before he was to be produced at the court.

He said calling the suspect an alcoholic also did not provide the reason for his death while under police custody.

Ahmad Zahid had first mooted the proposal to introduce permanent coroner’s court on June 6 last year as an alternative to calls to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

He said the Cabinet had agreed to set up a permanent coroner’s court and a centralised lock-up in every state where larges states will have more than one central lock-up.

He said interrogations will no longer be done in police station lock-ups but only to be done in the central lock-ups which will also be equipped with CCTVs.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri had also said that Jusa C grade magistrates will hold the post of coroner and that the courts will be established after the selection of magistrates.

She said the coroners, aided by medical forensic experts, will have to determine the cause of the deaths
Currently, the coroner’s court is set up on an ad hoc basis.