Widow, son get close to RM450,000 in custodial death civil suit

SEREMBAN: A widow and her son who filed a civil suit against the government and several others following her husband’s death while in police custody have been awarded almost RM450,000 in damages by the High Court here.

Judicial Commissioner Wan Fadhilah Wan Idris, when delivering judgment on Friday (Sept 8), said the defendants had been negligent as they failed to ensure the safety of 46-year-old M. Segar in their custody.

She said according to testimony by a forensic pathologist, the deceased had also suffered multiple blunt force trauma wounds and the age of these wounds coincided with the time he was arrested and detained in the lock-up.

Segar’s 47-year-old wife M. Vimala Devy and son Thusataran, 23, had named Insp Mohd Rozek Azmi, the Port Dickson district police chief, the Port Dickson police station chief, the Negri Sembilan police chief, the Inspector-General of Police and the Malaysian government as respondents in the suit.

The court awarded the plaintiffs RM200,000 in aggravated damages, RM150,000 for misfeasance in public office by a public servant, RM63,000 for loss of support, RM30,000 for bereavement and RM3,780 for funeral expenses.

The respondents were also ordered to pay the plaintiffs 5% interest from March 30, 2020 and RM20,000 in costs.

According to the suit, Segar, who worked as a stall helper, and his friend S. Mogan were detained by the police at around 10.30pm on April 17, 2017 for allegedly being involved in drug abuse.

The following morning, police took the deceased to the Port Dickson district station after obtaining an order to remand him for three days from the Magistrate’s court.

Around 2.30pm the same day, investigating officer Insp Nor Asyiqin Wahirudin received a call from Insp Mohd Rozek, the first defendant, telling him that he wanted to take the deceased out of his cell to record his statement.

Insp Mohd Rozek then spent two hours with the deceased and sent him back to his cell at around 4.45pm.

At 1.20am the following morning, the deceased was found shivering in his cell and the policeman on duty gave him an analgesic.

When his condition worsened, a medical officer was called in at around 2am.

However, the medical officer found that Segar had died about 10 minutes before he arrived.

A post-mortem conducted at Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar found that death was caused by, among others, injuries to internal tissues from blunt force trauma.

Vimala Devy then lodged a report and the case was heard by a Coroner’s Court which ruled his death as a misadventure.

However, the family appealed the decision and the High Court here declared an open verdict in Segar’s death.

The plaintiffs had, in their suit, claimed there were serious breaches by the respondents from the time Segar was detained until his death.

The plaintiffs were represented by lawyers Haresh Mahadevan and Ramzani Idris.