The decomposed body of missing police detainee G Francis Udayapan was positively identified by his family today, but his mother has refused to claim the body from the University Malaya Medical Centre's morgue until a post-mortem is done.

His mother G Sara Lilly (right) said she could tell that the body was that of her son, based on the tattoo of an angel on his upper left arm and an extra long tooth on the right side of his mouth, but she expressed alarm over bruise marks on the body.

Speaking to reporters following the identification, Sara said the presence of blue-black bruise marks on her son's legs, thighs and back suggest that he may have been assaulted prior to his death.

Together with family members, Sara this afternoon called for a speedy post-mortem to establish what might have caused the bruises..

Representatives from interest group Police Watch and Human Rights Committee also cast doubts over the condition of the deceased's body.

Its president RN Rajah described the body as "looking too good: for something that had apparently been submerged in water for 37 days".

"How can this be? The stomach and the legs are still intact (connected to the torso)," he said.

The body of the 24-year-old detainee, who is said to have escaped from police custody on April 17, was discovered by police around 6pm on Sunday.

Brickfields district police chief Zul Hasnan Najib Baharuddin said the body, clad in a KL Police lock-up t-shirt, was found in the Klang river near Taman Angkasa Puchong.

Harassment alleged

Family lawyer M Manoharan said Sara would await the post-mortem report before she claimed the body.

"This is because we have observed important signs on the deceased body that suggests he had been assaulted," he said.

He said the family will be pursuing answers as to why the police had failed to find the body earlier, when the section of the river flowing through Puchong has several rubbish booms (barriers to prevent the passage of garbage).

"The police know that most of the bodies (in the river) end up (being found) in Puchong because of the barriers. Why didn't they check there first?" he asked.

Sara and her lawyers today also took opportunity to hit out at the police for their "harassment" of family members, lawyers and supporters who have taken an interest in the case.

Lawyer N Surendran said the most recent incident occurred following the mother's initial failure to identify the body yesterday.

He said the demand by police for Sara to provide a blood sample for DNA tests was tantamount to unnecessary "harassment" seeing that she had promised to make a second attempt at identification this morning.

"The police have been harassing her since yesterday, but prior to that, they have also been abusing and harassing family and lawyers for a about one month, ever since police reports were lodged against Brickfields police," Surendran added.

'Botched' investigations

Meanwhile, interest groups present at the morgue today pressed for clearer explanation of the events that led to Francis' alleged escape and subsequent 'drowning'.

V Selvam, of yet-to-be-registered political party PSM, said senior officers must take full responsibility of the botched investigations as well as the fact that the body was not found until 37 days after he had gone missing.

"The police should explain the results, and take responsibility for the flawed investigations. In my opinion, either (federal criminal investigation director) Musa Hassan or the Inspector-General of Police (Mohd Bakri Omar) should resign," he said.

Suaram co-ordinator Eric Paulsen chastised the police for slow and intransparent investigations even though the case had been passed on to higher jurisdictions - from Brickfields police to Kuala Lumpur and then finally to Bukit Aman two weeks later.

"The entire investigation, including the (suspension) of the officer in charge, must be subjected to public scrutiny," he said.

The police have refused to divulge details into the suspension of the single officer allegedly responsible for Francis' escape. They have also not explained how the detainee could have peeled back the hole in the fencing around the station and jumped into the Klang river.

While Sara has consistently alleged that her son was a victim of police abuse, a Bukit Aman special team - ordered by Musa to investigate the allegation - has "so far" ruled out foul play.

The discovery has come at a time when police remand orders have come under criticism.

The Police Commission, a three-month-old government task-force to investigate police affairs, said last week that it wants a review of existing police remand powers under section 117 of the criminal procedure code, which allows officers to detain suspects to up to 14 days.