The police should take full responsibility for the death of a detainee in Penang police custody who died after falling from the first floor of the police station two days ago, the tenth custodial death since February.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo said that the law makes it clear that all necessary steps should have been taken by the police to prevent custodial deaths. The deceased died after he fell from the first floor of the North Seberang Perai IPD police station at 1pm on 29 September.

The suspect who was identified by Penang police as Tee Ming Hua, aged 56 from Selangor. Police claim that while being questioned, Tee ran out of the room and jumped off the first floor despite being handcuffed. After the fall, Tee sustained severe head injuries before dying.

He was arrested in Kuantan Pahang in connection with eight cases of cheating and was later handed to the Butterworth Commercial Crime Investigation Department for investigation.

Gobind asked for a full inquiry into the case and that investigations are carried out by independent police officers who are not involved in Tee’s fraud investigations.

Out of 10 cases of death in police custody since February, seven had occurred in Penang.

Penang Police chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi said that although he believed standard operating procedures were adhered to when taking the suspect’s statement, a probe will be done to investigate whether there was any negligence on the part of the officers involved and to rule out foul play.

Apart from setting up of an inquest to look into the matter, Gobind Singh said that there is an urgent need to study weaknesses of the system to protect persons in custody.

“It is disappointing to note that even after a Royal Commission of Enquiry into custodial deaths in Teoh Beng Hock case, deaths like this continue to occur,” he said.

Teoh Beng Hock’s death had occurred while he was under the custody of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, sparking public outrage and questions about the handling of persons brought in by authorities for questioning.

“I call upon the Home Minister to look personally into this matter, to make sure that there is a full and independent investigation and to take action against those officers responsible for the death of the detainee and also to ensure that there are no more cases of this nature in future,” Gobind said. -The Rocket