Charles: 𝗜𝗻𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵

Let’s look at this statement closely: There is no evidence that A Ganapathy passed away due to assault while under police custody.Gombak district police chief Arifai Tarawe said this.

And I would like to remind him that there is no evidence to show otherwise, either. An inquest hearing is therefore imminent to determine how Ganapathy died and the role played by the police, if any.

While Arifai denies assault, Ganapathy’s mum alleges her son told her he was beaten by the police. Her account can’t be dismissed either, without any proper investigation.

Arifai has also warned the public against commenting on this case but what else could he possibly expect us to do? Indians are disproportionately dying in police custody.

And there are just one too many sticking points surrounding Ganapathy’s death. We don’t even know why he was detained in the first place. If anything, this case reeks of abuse of police powers.

We need to know the truth. The police need to know they won’t get away with assaulting detainees. We cannot afford another detainee in a body bag. Ganapathy’s death is one too many already!

Charles Santiago is a Member of Parliament Klang

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Leaders Online

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