KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — A 30-year-old man suspected of armed robbery, has lodged a police report alleging that he was assaulted, tasered and had his genitals rubbed with chilli paste by policemen to induce a confession from him.
The victim identified as S. Mahedran in his police report claimed that his abuse took place at the Sentul police headquarters where he surrendered himself after learning that he was wanted.
S. Mahedran’s lawyer M. Visvanathan has called on the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to look into the case.
Visvanathan cried foul at the manner Mahedran’s complaint is being probed, as his report is also being looked into by officers from the Sentul district police headquarters where the alleged abuse took place.
“Basically my client was being investigated under Section 395, 397 and 412 of the Penal Code for armed robbery and handling of stolen goods.
“He was taken in on April 29. In fact, he surrendered himself to the police and made a report saying he is surrendering to the police on his own free will because he got to know that he was on the wanted list.
“What happened was, on the very same day, they started assaulting him. Once he was in custody, they handcuffed him to the back and started beating him on the neck area, kicking him, punching him and then they stripped him naked, and they smeared pounded chilli all over his body, especially his private parts,”’ Visvanathan told Malay Mail.
He said on top of that Mahedran was also laid on ice cubes naked, and the torture went on for 13 hours daily while he was under police remand.
Visvanathan further alleged that the officers investigating his client had threatened him that they would target his mother and ‘will not hesitate’ to rape his sister.
“The final day he was in custody, what they did was they tasered him. He survived but he is really traumatised,” Visvanathan who is also the Eliminate Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict) spokesperson added.
“The degree of abuse and torture, in this case, is beyond words.
“It is ridiculous that the Sentul police are investigating its own officers. They are the ones who are investigating their fellow officers. This is ridiculous and that’s the reason why we need the IPCMC. We cannot have this situation,” he added, referring to the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.
In Mahedran’s police report which was sighted by the Malay Mail, he was also allegedly threatened by an inspector who warned Mahedran against lodging any report against him, or risk being detained and tortured again.
Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner S. Shanmugamoorthy, when contacted, pledged a thorough and transparent investigation into the case.
“I got the report much, much earlier, and we are investigating, and we take this issue seriously.
“On my part, I ensure that no stones are left unturned, and I will make sure everything is transparent and thoroughly conducted,” he added.
