Police have denied that the investigation into the death of a 17-year-old student in Klang was classified as no further action (NFA) and only recently reopened.
Klang Utara police chief S Vijaya Rao said the case has been under investigation as a sudden death since May 27, which was when the girl was pronounced dead at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital.
“We didn’t ‘reopen’ investigations. We started our investigations from the day we received the report (and it is still being conducted),” he said, adding that the victim’s cause of death was still pending laboratory results.
Vijaya said the statements of 25 people had been taken, including from teachers and students at the victim’s school.
He said the investigation paper would be referred to the deputy public prosecutor’s office after the statements of several more people had been recorded.
The student died on May 27 after allegedly ingesting poison while in a classroom with three other students during recess. One of them later told teachers the student had collapsed and was foaming at the mouth.
The parents accused the school of failing to provide immediate medical attention, claiming staff waited nearly two hours for an ambulance instead of sending her to a nearby clinic, which was only two minutes away.
The victim’s father, M Gopalan, 47, also claimed that the school did not administer first aid while waiting for the ambulance.
He had lodged two police reports – one against six school staff members for alleged gross negligence and evidence tampering, and another against three students for allegedly pressuring his daughter to consume the poison.
Earlier today, activist Arun Dorasamy claimed the case was initially classified as NFA before being reopened, with the cops taking the statements of the victim’s parents, Gopalan and P Magaswari, 45, yesterday.
“We are thankful the police are now conducting a more detailed and serious investigation,” Arun said at a press conference outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) headquarters here.
Arun was with the girl’s mother, Magaswari, and the family’s lawyer, S Vikram, to lodge a report with MACC, alleging abuse of power by an education ministry officer involved in the case.
