Cops quiz 'police abuse victim' again

The special team probing the alleged police abuse of 27-year-old carpark attendant B Prabhakar recorded a second statement from the alleged victim at the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters today.

According to Police Watch and Human Rights Committee co-ordinator S Jayathas, Prabhakar was called in following directives by the Attorney-General's Chambers to seek further details of his alleged abuse.

"The police needed details on where the hot water dispenser was and also asked about photos of Prabhakar and his friend Solomon while they were under custody," said Jayathas, who accompanied Prabhakar to Bukit Aman.

Prabhakar and C Solomon, 17, both car park attendants, were picked up by police in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur on Dec 23 last year and held at the Brickfields police station for five days to assist investigations into extortion cases.

Prabhakar was released on Dec 28 and on Dec 31, he made public his alleged abuse while in police custody. His body had horrific scalding wounds which triggered a public uproar over the alleged police abuse.

Solomon, however, has been missing since.

Following this, Prabhakar has identified 11 police personnel involved in the alleged assault, of which seven have been charged under Section 304 and 506 of the Penal code for voluntarily causing hurt to extort a confession and criminal intimidation respectively.

The seven’s case is set for mention at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Feb 17.

Prabhakar’s lawyer N Surendran when contacted said that he would press for the other four police personnel to be charged as well.

Surendran said that the four include two police officers who took Prabhakar to a private clinic for treatment instead of a public hospital.

"This is an improper and irregular procedure. They should have taken him to a general hospital," he said.

Surendran added that Prabhakar was still traumatised by his alleged abuse by the police and has consulted a psychiatrist over sleeping problems and fear of leaving his house.