The High Court here has ordered for the body of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia cadet Syamsul Haris Shamsudin to be exhumed for a second post-mortem.
Justice Bhupindar Singh Gurcharan Singh Preet made the ruling after allowing a motion filed by the deceased’s mother, Ummu Haiman Bee Daulatgun, 45.
The judge ordered that the exhumation of the body at Kampung Rinching Ulu Muslim Cemetery in Selangor be carried out under the supervision of the inspector-general of police (IGP) or his officers.
He also ordered a forensic expert from Kuala Lumpur Hospital to conduct the post-mortem within 14 days of the exhumation and in the presence of senior forensic pathologist Dr Bhupinder Singh and the family’s appointed lawyer or a representative from Messrs Naran Singh & Co.
The post-mortem report must be produced within a reasonable time and a copy of the report given to the family’s lawyer.
Ummu filed the motion on Aug 14, naming IGP Khalid Ismail and Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar as the respondents.
She claimed that the initial post-mortem was not done by a hospital forensic specialist but by a UD10-grade medical officer, and that she and her family were not allowed to view the full body.
Syamsul, 22, the eldest of three siblings, died on July 28 under unclear circumstances while undergoing Palapes training at the Army Combat Training Centre in Ulu Tiram, Johor.
He was said to have experienced a seizure before his death.
Ummu however alleged that her son’s body showed bruises and injuries consistent with physical assault rather than a seizure.
On Aug 13, defence minister Khaled Nordin said authorities found no sign that the late cadet was physically abused.
Khaled said preliminary findings from a post-mortem had revealed no injuries caused by physical abuse on Syamsul’s body, although the complete findings of the autopsy would only be out in two months.
