IPOH, Sept 3 — The wife of late S. Thava Sagayam, 64, received a total of RM14,737 and a lifelong pension from the Social Security Organisation (Socso) today for his death from head injuries suffered during an assault while on duty as a security guard in December.

E. Philomena, 59, expressed her gratitude to Socso and the Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan for the benefits.

"My husband was the sole breadwinner in this family and I don’t have children to support me.

"I didn’t expect that I would get this aid. I feel very grateful,” she told reporters when met at her home in Taman Buntong Ria.

Philomena also thanked Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran for helping her from the day her late husband had been admitted for the injuries, including sending her essential supplies weekly.

Earlier, Saravanan and Socso officials presented Philomena with a beneficiary cheque at her home.

Saravanan said that Socso provided RM2,000 for the burial ceremony and one-off payment of RM12,737 as the deceased was bedridden in the hospital for about six months.

"Socso also will be providing a lifelong pension to the deceased’s wife. This is one of the Socso benefits that many are not aware of. When a person is a Socso contributor, the wife will receive lifelong pension if the person died while on duty,” he said.

"However, in this case the current employer did not provide Socso contribution. But the deceased’s wife is still entitled to the benefits as the old employer had submitted the contribution,” he added.

Socso said in a statement that Philomena will get a lifelong pension of RM1,143.90 every month.

According to news reports, Thava, who was a condominium security guard here, was attacked by a visitor, reportedly after barring his attacker from using the condo swimming pool in December.

Widely-shared video clips of the incident showed a man approaching the guard aggressively, raising his hands and pointing fingers before slamming a table on the guard who fell on the floor.

The assaulter is seen pacing around the motionless guard while a young child stands nearby. The assaulter leaves the scene after lifting the victim’s head and sees something below it.

The case was initially investigated under Section 335 of the Penal Code with the suspect charged on 6 January at the Ipoh Magistrate's Court. That case is scheduled to be mentioned on 9 September.

However, Perak police chief Mior Faridalthrash Wahid said they have reclassified the case, on the day of where the man died (August, 27), under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

Mior added that police are still awaiting further instruction from the deputy public prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Kulasegaran urged the deputy public prosecutor to charger the attacker with murder.