Court awards RM340,000 in damages over death in prison
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has awarded more than RM340,000 in damages to the mother of a factory worker who died in prison seven years ago. The panel, consisting of judges Yaacob Md Sam, Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and M Gunalan, made the order on damages for housewife Rahaya Salleh during…
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has awarded more than RM340,000 in damages to the mother of a factory worker who died in prison seven years ago.
The panel, consisting of judges Yaacob Md Sam, Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and M Gunalan, made the order on damages for housewife Rahaya Salleh during online proceedings today.
Rahaya had filed a suit against the government, the police and the prisons department in 2017 for assault and negligence after her son, Kamarulnizam Ismail, died at Tapah prison.
Nasfy, who delivered the court’s decision, awarded her RM290,000 in general damages, RM40,800 in dependency claim and RM10,000 in special damages.
She also received RM2,000 for her son’s funeral expenses, and RM5,000 as costs.
Last week, the court ruled that Rahaya was entitled to damages in relation to her dependency claim, and negligence by the government.
However, the court set aside the order of RM150,000 in damages for unlawful detention and misfeasance in public office.
“She (Rahaya) has proved negligence as the police and prison lock-up rules have not been adhered to,” Nasfy said.
Kamarulnizam was reported to have died between 8.30pm on March 7 and 2.30am the following day in 2014.
He was sent to prison on March 3 that year to serve a two-week jail sentence, after pleading guilty to charges under the Penal Code and the Minor Offences Act.
His father, Ismail Ahmad, went to the Bukit Mertajam court to settle the fine but Kamarulnizam wanted to serve the jail term as he had intended to use the money to repair his car.
Kamarulnizam, however, never came back alive. His parents collected his body from the Tapah Hospital’s mortuary.
In her statement of claim, Rahaya said Kamarulnizam gave the family RM1,300 a month.
She said her son was arrested by police on Feb 22, 2014 together with three others, and alleged that he was assaulted by three policemen during detention at the Seberang Perai Tengah district police headquarters in Bukit Mertajam.
Rahaya was represented by M Visvanathan and Sanjay Nathan Visvanathan. Senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad, Andi Razalijaya A Dadi and Mohd Ashraf Abd Hamid appeared for the government, the police and the prison officers. — Free Malaysia Today