Stress caused by police could have caused Sugumar’s death, says pathologist
BY PATHMA SUBRAMANIAM
September 25, 2014
SHAH ALAM, Sept 25 — Policemen who chased and forcefully apprehended C. Sugumar could have exacerbated his heart condition, ultimately causing his heart attack, a forensic pathologist said today.
Sugumar died shortly after he was arrested for allegedly running amok at a suburb in Hulu Langat last year. According to eye-witnesses, Sugumar was nailed down by three policemen as they handcuffed him with one policeman stepping on his head to pin it to the ground, while another sat on his buttocks and the other held his legs
Dr Mohamad Azaini Ibrahim refused to budge from his earlier finding that Sugumar died from coronary heart disease and not asphyxiation, but said he would amend his report to include the stress caused on the deceased caused by the preceding events.
“I would say that due to the circumstances surrounding the death, it is possible that the physical exertion and the connected stress precipitated his condition,” he said.
Lawyer Dr Dheeraj Bhar, who was assisting the Coroner’s Court in the inquest today, suggested that the vigorous act by the police officers had affected Sugumar’s breathing and subsequently caused him to choke.
The Hospital Serdang pathologist, who performed the autopsy on 39-year-old Sugumar, rejected the possibility.
Dr Mohamad Azaini explained that he had initially suspected that Sugumar died from asphyxiation based on the investigating officer’s recount of the incident, but ruled it out after examining the body thoroughly.
He said he found close to no petechial haemorrhages, or bleeding of capillaries into the skin — which he insisted would appear extensively on Sugumar’s body if he was asphyxiated.
The pathologist added that there were no injuries on Sugumar’s inner lip or gums, but blood was present in the deceased’s nostrils.
Dr Mohamad Azaini said that the blockage was at 70 per cent of the circular lumen area of a coronary artery, which would have probably caused Sugumar’s heart muscle to fail.
“The heart muscle did not get adequate blood or oxygen that it needs, and it probably had to pump faster when he ran… and the subsequent stress when he was being arrested… this would result in the heart being taxed,” he said.
“Although I thought of asphyxiation first, but after seeing the lesions in the artery I stated the cause of death to be coronary artery disease,” said Dr Mohamad Azaini.
Lawyers for Liberty’s executive director Eric Paulsen, who is holding the watching brief for Sugumar’s family, also requested that the Inspector-General of Police’s Standing Orders (IGSO) is presented in the inquest as two handcuffs were used to restrain Sugumar.
Paulsen made the application as police witnesses in the inquest had admitted it was not normal to double cuff an individual.
Coroner Azahari Abdul Hamid has instructed deputy public prosecutor Noor Husnita Mohd Radzi to produce the ISGO when the investigating officer into Sugumar’s case takes stand on October 2.
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