PETALING JAYA: Social media users are outraged over the death of cow milk trader A Ganapathy in police custody, and hashtags like ‘#JusticeForGanapathy’ and ‘#BrutalityinMalaysia’ are trending.
Malaysians of all races and backgrounds are pushing the government to take steps to put a stop to police brutality and to set up the Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
‘Iffah Garib’ tweeted: “Police brutality in Malaysia! Let’s speak up guys.”
‘Syaf’ wrote: “A soul is lost due to police brutality and Ganapathy wasn’t the only one. Let’s educate ourselves about police brutality in Malaysia.”
‘Joshua Navin’ tweeted: “If you make noise about George Floyd and #BlackLivesMatter then don’t forget to make noise for the many more who were brutally beaten to death in police custody.”
He also listed Malaysians who had died in police custody in the past – Kugan Ananthan (2009), Sugumar Chelladury (2013), Karuna Nithi Palani Velu (2013), Dharmandran Narayansamy (2013) and Balamurugan Suppiah (2017).
Young Malaysians including Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman have taken to TikTok, a social networking service where many Malaysians of all races post two- to three-minute videos calling for justice for Ganapathy.
MUDA’s Syed Saddiq said Ganapathy was brutally beaten up with a rubber hose while in police custody for 12 days, reminding his followers that such brutality could happen to anyone. “Indians are overly represented in custodial deaths. Even if they are guilty, they deserve to be treated humanely.”
Another young Malaysian in a video spoke on the brutality that has caused a mother to lose her child. “Look at the mother’s eyes after losing her child suddenly after being in police custody for 12 days,” the girl said, adding that Malaysians should push for IPCMC to stop police brutality.
Ganapathy died of injuries while in police custody
Lawyer K Ganesh told FMT that Ganapathy died as a result of injuries on his legs and shoulders while in police custody, adding that he was briefed by Kuala Lumpur Hospital’s pathology department on the findings of the autopsy yesterday.
He died at the Selayang Hospital on April 18, just over a month after he was warded.
“The pathologist told me that Ganapathy died of severe injuries on his legs. He also suffered injuries on his back and front shoulder,” he added. The injuries were so severe that the medical team had to amputate Ganapathy’s whole left leg in an attempt to save his life.
He said Ganapathy’s family and the investigating officer were also present when the findings were revealed yesterday.
However, Ganesh said the family is now awaiting the full autopsy report, after which they will decide on the next course of action.
“The autopsy took about seven to eight hours,” he said, adding that the Ganapathy leaves behind two children, aged five and seven.
The lawyer said he had told the investigating officer to go after the perpetrators who caused Ganapathy’s death as the incident took place while he was in their custody. “They should not face any hurdles as it happened right in their backyard,” he added.
Reports say a police report filed by Ganapathy’s mother, S. Thanaletchumy, 60, on March 11, said her son was arrested on February 24 to assist the police in an investigation involving one of his brothers.
In the report, Thanaletchumy claimed Ganapathy was in relatively good health despite suffering from diabetes. She also said her son had informed her that he had been beaten with a rubber hose by the police.
Rights groups have called for a stop to police brutality in custody, with a review of the culture of violence and abuse tactics to force suspects to confess.