John Doe inquest postponed again
Roshan JasonPublished: Oct 25, 2004 2:00 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 6:21 PM
The Kuala Lumpur Magistrates Court today postponed the 'John Doe' inquest , held to ascertain the identity of a body found over five months ago, as one of the lawyers involved in the case is undergoing surgery.
The Kuala Lumpur Magistrates Court today postponed the 'John Doe' inquest, held to ascertain the identity of a body found over five months ago, as one of the lawyers involved in the case is undergoing surgery.
Magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham, who is acting in the capacity of a coroner, postponed the hearing for the fourth time, after lawyer M Puravelan (photo) did not show up.
The lawyer, representing G Sara Lily who claims the body is that of her son G Francis Udayappan, was injured in a horse-riding incident last week.
CH Oh, who acted on Puravelan's behalf, told reporters that the inquest, which began on Aug 10, will resume on Friday.
Protracted battle
The inquest was ordered after Sara Lily became embroiled in a protracted battle with the police over a highly decomposed body fished out from the Klang River on May 23.
She positively identified the body as that of her son Francis, a missing police detainee, based on a tattoo and teeth deformity.
She also accused the police of assaulting her son to death and dumping him into the river, a charge which has been refuted by the police, who in turn, claim that Francis escaped from the Brickfields police headquarters and jumped into the nearby river on April 16.
He had been arrested two days before in connection with a theft case.
The police also said subsequent DNA tests failed to show a match between Sara Lily and the decomposed body.
However, the mother remained adamant and accused the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre of colluding with the police to cover up the case.
The first postponement of the inquest was on Aug 11 after Puravelan had filed an appeal in the High Court to overrule the coroner's decision to deny him questioning rights at the proceedings.
The High Court subsequently overruled the coroner's decision and allowed Sara Lily's lawyers to question witnesses and examine evidence introduced by the deputy public prosecutor.
Magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham, who is acting in the capacity of a coroner, postponed the hearing for the fourth time, after lawyer M Puravelan (photo) did not show up. The lawyer, representing G Sara Lily who claims the body is that of her son G Francis Udayappan, was injured in a horse-riding incident last week.
CH Oh, who acted on Puravelan's behalf, told reporters that the inquest, which began on Aug 10, will resume on Friday.
Protracted battle
The inquest was ordered after Sara Lily became embroiled in a protracted battle with the police over a highly decomposed body fished out from the Klang River on May 23.
She positively identified the body as that of her son Francis, a missing police detainee, based on a tattoo and teeth deformity. She also accused the police of assaulting her son to death and dumping him into the river, a charge which has been refuted by the police, who in turn, claim that Francis escaped from the Brickfields police headquarters and jumped into the nearby river on April 16.
He had been arrested two days before in connection with a theft case.
The police also said subsequent DNA tests failed to show a match between Sara Lily and the decomposed body.
However, the mother remained adamant and accused the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre of colluding with the police to cover up the case.
The first postponement of the inquest was on Aug 11 after Puravelan had filed an appeal in the High Court to overrule the coroner's decision to deny him questioning rights at the proceedings.
The High Court subsequently overruled the coroner's decision and allowed Sara Lily's lawyers to question witnesses and examine evidence introduced by the deputy public prosecutor.
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