KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — Klang MP Charles Santiago said an inquest into the death of cow’s milk trader A. Ganapathy is necessary, in order to determine if his death was caused by police assault.

He said that Malaysian Indians are disproportionately dying in police custody, and in the case of  Ganapathy’s death there are one too many sticking points surrounding it.

“We cannot afford another detainee in a body bag. Ganapathy’s death is one too many already,” Charles said in a statement.

He also took Gombak district police chief ACP Arifai Tarawe to task over the latter's remarks during the press conference on Ganapathy’s death yesterday.

“Arifai said there is no evidence that Ganapathy passed away due to assault while under police custody, but I would like to remind him that there is no evidence to show otherwise, either.

“He has also warned the public against commenting on this case but what else could he possibly expect us to do? We do not even know why Ganapathy was detained in the first place,” Charles said.

He said the claims made by Ganapathy's mother S. Thanaletchumy that the deceased informed her that he had been beaten by the police shortly before his death should not be dismissed without any proper investigation.

“If anything, this case reeks of abuse of police powers. We need to know the truth. The police need to know they will not get away with assaulting detainees,” Charles 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.