I wish to comment on the Malaysiakini report Teoh was fully conscious when he fell . I feel this issue is starting to look ridiculous and stupid.

Forensic evidence is supplementary evidence. It does not form the bulk of the evidence. It is eyewitness statements that are important. The police are hiding behind the forensic pathologists when, in fact, they are the ones who should be doing most of the investigation.

There is no way of knowing whether a person who falls off a building jumped or was pushed. The only way is to isolate those present in the building during the time of the incident and to interrogate them individually. I mean interrogate - not torture or intimidate.

You can tell the truth from the inconsistencies in the statements of those being interrogated. Many a time, stories change every time you question witnesses. The accounts of witnesses may vary from one witness to another.

Also, there usually will be at least a ‘weak link’ amongst the witnesses, usually people who have strong consciences or people with strong religious convictions or even people suffering from depression.

These kind of people will usually spill the beans and the case will be solved. This is the core of the investigation. The forensic pathologist can only tell you the cause of death. They can't tell you the scenario or the events leading to the death.

It is the police who decide whether it is suicide or homicide based on other factors such as motive and surrounding circumstances. The forensic pathologist can deduce, for example, that a person died from drowning.

But can he tell whether the person jumped off the ship or was pushed overboard? No.

The problem here is that the police should not have been given the task to investigate the MACC since they are both arms of the executive. For example, in countries such as the US, if there is any suspicion of police misconduct, the FBI would be called in to investigate.

It would not be the county sheriff who would be doing the investigation because he would not be impartial and he may have personal relationships with those under investigation.

As such in Malaysia, the investigations should have been done by a separate body. It should have been a royal commission of inquiry that spearheaded the investigations.

Now we have ended with the forensic pathologists having the last say when, in fact, their testimony should only form part of the investigation and not the whole.

The family of the deceased has been denied justice. They wanted to know the truth but now they are none the wiser. What was so hard about having a royal commission of inquiry? At least it would have put the minds of the family of the deceased at rest.