KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — The lawyer for the family of cow milk trader A. Ganapathy, who died while in police custody, has stated the death was a result of injuries on his legs and shoulders.

Malaysiakini reported K. Ganesh as saying that a doctor from Kuala Lumpur Hospital’s Pathology Department informed Ganapathy’s family about the findings of the autopsy on Wednesday.

"We were told he died of severe injuries on his legs,” he said when contacted, adding that the police officer investigating Ganapathy’s death was also present when the findings were revealed to the family.

The lawyer said the family is still awaiting the full autopsy report, despite being told of its findings

"The autopsy took eight hours on the day of his death. Today, we are told of its findings but have yet to receive the report,” he said.

According to the police report filed by Ganapathy’s mother, S. Thanaletchumy, 60, on March 11, her son had been arrested on February 24 to assist the police in the investigation into one of his brothers.

In the report she claimed that Ganapathy was in relatively good health at the time of his arrest, despite a medical history of heart problems and diabetes.

On March 8, Thanaletchumy and her family were contacted by the police and informed that Ganapathy had been released, and had been admitted to Selayang Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

During his stay, Ganapathy was confirmed to have kidney problems, and his leg had to be amputated as well.

Thanaletchumy’s report also claimed that her son had been beaten during his time in custody, which resulted in the amputation.

She also claimed Ganapathy had told her that he was beaten with a rubber hose by the police. His family claimed the deceased’s health deteriorated as a result of the beatings, and that his legs were swollen and bruised as though he had been beaten.

On April 18 Ganapathy died at Selayang Hospital, just over a month after he was first warded. He leaves behind two children aged five and seven.

Gombak district police chief ACP Arifai Tarawe is expected to hold a press conference on Ganapathy’s death later today.