The family of late taxi driver Baharuddin Ahmad insists that he was healthy and did not suffer from hypertension or heart disease as claimed, prior to collapsing during the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 last year.

His son Mohd Nasrul Baharuddin, the third witness to be called before the inquest in the taxi driver’s death, explained that the last paragraph in his police report on his late father’s death which stated that the deceased suffered from hypertension was incorrect.

baharudin ahmad funeral bersih 1 That particular line, he told the inquiry convened at the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court today, was typed by the policemen who asked him some questions and typed out the report.

“When the report was already printed, I wanted to change that statement, as my father only used to suffer from mild hypertension, and not any more to my knowledge,” he related.

However, he said that the police officer discouraged him.

“The policemen told me: ‘It’s okay adik (little brother), this is just the initial report, just to verify his death. You can lodge another report later’.

“I did not think long and was still sad at that moment so I agreed and signed the report,” Mohd Nasrul told coroner Zulkpli Abdullah.

He also described his father as a healthy man with no outward signs of illness.

This was repeated during the testimony of his mother and Baharuddin’s wife Rosni Malan, who was the fourth witness to appear before the inquest.

“He was healthy. He used to run with the kids.

“He used to have mild hypertension, but it ceased after he left his old job at BSN. No more stress. He stopped taking medications as he said that when checked, his pressure had lowered,” she told the inquest.

‘A happy, healthy and devout man’

Rosni also dismissed allegations that her husband may have heart disease, describing how he was not a smoker and was a happy, vigorously healthy and religiously devout man with no apparently stress or problems.

She described her suspicions when heart disease was said to be the cause of his death as there were no indications of prior illness or complications.

This led to her requesting for a full autopsy, despite a medical officer only wanting to autopsy her late husband’s heart.

The inquest into Baharuddin’s death while participating in the Bersih 2.0 electoral reform rally on July 9 in Kuala Lumpur last year, kicked off today.

Coroner Zulkpli was assisted by deputy public prosecutors Kalmizah Salleh and Ahmad Israq, while lawyer Ahmah Jufliz Faiza led the team holding a watching brief for the family.

Over 30 witnesses are due to be called, with five supposed to appear today.

Two were called before the break for lunch. The first, Constable Mohd Hafiz Ahmad, is the police photographer who took pictures during Baharuddin’s autopsy at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and transported specimens from the procedure to the Chemistry Department lab in Petaling Jaya.

The second was Shairah Diyana Shaharuddin, the Good Samaritan who tried to help when she found the taxi driver slumped and unresponsive and called in paramedics and an ambulance.

The fifth witness who was supposed to be called before the inquiry today, Baharuddin's eldest daughter, a medical doctor now completing her housemanship at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, will appear tomorrow.

Baharudin, who was in his late fifties, was allegedly fleeing from an FRU charge and tear gas.

Police claimed that his death was due to a heart attack though his fellow Bersih participants believed that his death may have been due to over exposure to the copious amounts of tear gas used by police while dispersing the peaceful demonstration last year.

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