The second accused in the murders of cosmetic millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya and three other individuals told the High Court in Shah Alam today that he was physically tortured and threatened during interrogation by the police.

T Thilaiyagan, 20, said that during the interrogation, held in a room at Gombak police station on Sept 11, 2010, his genitals were kicked and pinched and a pistol was shoved into his mouth.

He said he was also forced by Chief Inspector N Govindan to admit to killing a woman and three men.

“When Govindan entered the room with a newspaper which had pictures of three men and a woman, he asked me whether I know the people in the picture and I answered no.

“Govindan and another policeman, Thiagarajan, hit me and Govindan shoved a pistol into my mouth and told me to do as he ordered.

“I was ordered to say that I killed the four people, but I did not confess to doing so,” he said during examination-in-chief by lawyer Gurbachan Singh, who represented Thilaiyagan.

Thilaiyalagan, who is the first witness, was testifying in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the state of mind of the accused when giving the statement which led to the discovery of the exhibits in the case.

Thilaiyalagan, who was arrested on Sept 9, 2010, had claimed that he was forced into giving the statement to the police.

He, former lawyer N Pathmanabhan and two other farm workers, R Matan and R Khatavarayan are charged with murdering Sosilawati, 47; bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38; lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44, at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting, between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010.

Pathmanabhan, 42, Thilaiyagan, Matan, 21, and Khatavarayan, 31, are charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which carries the death sentence upon conviction.

Thilaiyalagan, who spoke in Tamil and then translated into Malay by a court interpreter, said that during the interrogation, which took about four and half hours, Govindan kicked and pinched his genitals and also kicked him several times on the chest when he was kneeling on the floor.

‘Pistol shoved into my mouth’

“During the four and a half hours, I was also taken by Govindan to a second room where the police held my neck and told me to open my mouth, while Govindan shoved a pistol into my mouth,” he added.

Gurbachan: On Sept 13, 2010, were you interrogated?
    
Thilaiyalagan: I was taken to the Kuala Langat police station in Banting and then I was forced by Govindan to go to a river, and was told that I would be shot if I refused. I was then ordered to point a finger for picture taking.

Thilaiyalagan said that following the incidents, he lodged two police reports, on April 6 and July 6 this year.

When questioned by Pathmanabhan’s lawyer, Manjeet Singh Dhillon, Thilaiyalagan said he was taken to another police lockup on the afternoon of Sept 11, 2010 where its floor was flooded with water from a leaked pipe on the ceiling of the lockup.

“The police gave me a bottle cap and a pail and told me to collect the water into the pail. I was not able to do it and also was not able to sleep well the whole night,” he added.

To a question by lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who represented Matan, Thilaiyalagan said that when he was brought back to the Gombak police station on Sept 12, 2010, he saw Matan and Khatavarayan being tortured and that made him feel scared.

Thilaiyalagan said Govindan also called him names like “dog” and “pig”.

Amer Hamzah: How was your state of mind with all these happening?

Thilaiyalagan: I felt like I was going insane.

Thilaiyalagan said that on Sept 12, 2010, he was then taken to the farm.

“I felt hungry and asked for food, but they gave me chilies. I was ordered to eat the chilies and threatened that I would be hit if I were to drop it on the floor. After that I cried,” he added.

When cross-examined by deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin, Thilaiyalagan denied that he lodged the police reports after being advised by his lawyer to do so and that he was lying when testifying that he was oppressed and tortured by Govindan.

He also disagreed with Saiful Edris that he was not telling the truth about being threatened by Govindan as well as being called names and forced to eat chilies and collect water with a bottle cap into a pail.

Saiful Edris: You said you were kicked on the genitals once, but in your police report, you said Govindan kicked several times.

Thilaiyalagan: I only said two or three times.

Saiful Edris: Would you agree that had you been kicked several times of the genitals, you would have been hospitalised?

Thilaiyalagan: Agree.
    
Saiful Edris: On Sept 12, 2010 you were at the farm. There was nothing wrong with you?

Thilaiyalagan: Nothing.

‘I saw duo being tortured’

Meanwhile, Matan, who is the third witness in the trial-within-a-trial, said he saw Thilaiyalagan and Khatavarayan being tortured until they bled at the Gombak police lockup.

“I saw Thilaiyalagan’s mouth was bleeding and he was in fear, and there were bruises on Ravi's (Khatavarayan) face and his mouth was bleeding,” he added.

Matan denied that he and Thilaiyalagan had agreed to lodge police reports and create stories about Govindan and his team as their defence in the case.

The hearing before judge Akhtar Tahir continues tomorrow.

- Bernama