Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo says measures taken so far to curb custodial deaths do not seem to be effective. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 19, 2015.A DAP federal lawmaker has once again suggested that laws be enacted to hold police "criminally liable" for causing hurt and deaths of detainees to curb cases of custodial deaths in the country.Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo pointed out that officers in charge of the police stations and investigating officers should be held liable for the condition of the detainees under their charge.Gobind said this following the coroner's court ruling recently that police were responsible for the death of lorry driver P. Chandran while in custody as they had failed to provide him with timely medical assistance.The DAP lawmaker added that legislation was also needed to ensure the government and the police force were automatically liable in civil actions for causing injuries and deaths in custody, unless there was proof that all reasonable steps had been taken to ensure the safety of the detainees."I call upon the Inspector-General of Police to state if he is prepared to support such a proposal."If he isn't, I call upon him to state what steps to be taken in order to ensure that we stop further deaths in police custody," he said in a statement today.A good start, he added, would be for the top cop to acknowledge responsibility and state the immediate action to be taken against officers liable in the P. Chandran case.Sessions judge Ahmad Bache, who sat as coroner, had said in his verdict that police officers from Cheras and Dang Wangi district police headquarters had committed unlawful omission by not giving Chandran his medication and sending him to hospital.Ahmad said the police were aware that Chandran was under medication as this had been recorded by a magistrate when a remand order was issued against him.He said that closed-circuit television (CCTV) images showed that the 47-year-old had likely died due to hypertensive heart disease at 7.48am but police had reported his death only 12 hours later.Chandran, who was from Simpang Renggam, Johor, was arrested on September 6, 2012, following a police report lodged by an Indonesian woman who said her newborn baby had been abducted and held for ransom.Further investigations revealed that the woman had agreed to give the baby to Chandran's brother-in-law, who is a Muslim and had no children.The baby was supposed to be adopted after the completion of documentation.However, she changed her mind and lodged a police report. Police arrested four people, including Chandran and the would-be adoptive parents.Chandran, a father of six, was held at the Dang Wangi police station lock-up for four days before his death and during that period, he was not allowed to take the medication that his family members tried to give him.Gobind said the coroner's verdict is a "most damning indictment" against the force which IGP Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Ministry should be ashamed of.He said as the nation's top cop and leader of the force, Khalid had failed to ensure the safety of people under police custody and failed to ensure there were no more custodial deaths.The two-term MP pointed out the introduction of new measures, like the installation of CCTVs to oversee what happens in police stations, did not seem to have worked, as shown in Chandran's case."It is obvious that there is an attitude problem here. We seem to have officers who despite all else, just do not have the sense nor conscience to deal with people in their custody humanely."I am of the considered view that if we are to fix the problem and rid ourselves of it altogether, we must make these officers and their immediate superiors strictly accountable. To do this, we must instil within them the fear of stern punishment and civil liability in the event incidents like these occur under their watch." he added. – January 19, 2015.
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