The family of 20-year-old S Tharma Rajen who died under mysterious circumstances in police custody last Friday has asked for the immediate release of the postmortem report to ensure that it had not been tampered with.

Lawyers for the family of S Tharma Rajen, a waiter from Kuala Lumpur, approached Kuala Lumpur high court judge Mohd Ghazali Mohd Yusoff today to ask for a judicial review on Kajang Magistrate Azahaniz Teh's refusal to give the family a copy of the report.

"We want to see the postmortem on an urgent basis. We do not want the report to be tampered with," lawyer P Uthayakumar told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

On Friday, Azahaniz gave instructions to conduct a postmortem but refused to furnish a copy of it to the family.

Accompanied by co-counsel C Segar and R Thanasegaran, Uthayakumar today presented copies of the application for a review of the magistrate's decision to Justice Mohd Ghazali's secretary and the high court registrar. Family members of Tharma Rajen as well as 40 others were also present.

Covered with bruises

The application also complained that Azahaniz refused to put in writing that Tharma's body was covered with bruises with a slash mark just above the anus.

Tharma's family have alleged that his death was caused by police abuse and that he had been denied prompt medical attention.

Tharma was arrested and remanded at the city police headquarters in early April. He was further remanded at several police stations in the city before being finally placed under the Emergency Ordinance at the Putrajaya Police district headquarters. He had spent more than two months under remand.

According to the police, Tharma was admitted to the Putrajaya hospital on June 9 and died there on June 21. The family claimed that they were only notified of Tharma's admission on June 16.

Kuala Lumpur Chief Police Officer Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Abdul Kadir was quoted in the Malay Mail today as saying that Tharma's death was due to acute pneumonia. He denied any foul play.

"Despite the finding, we will continue investigations as the deceased's family had lodged a report against the police for negligence," Syed Abdul Rahman said.

Yesterday Bernama quoted his deputy Dell Akbar Khan as saying that Tharma's detention was done within the ambit of the law, refuting allegations that the detention was too long.

Long detention in question

"The question of him being detained too long in the lockup does not arise as it was done under a court order under Section 117 of the Penal Code and Section 3 (1) of the Emergency Ordinance 5/69 to hold him for 60 days for the purpose of investigation," Dell said

Dell added that Tharma was arrested on April 8 for suspected gang activities and then sent to the Putrajaya hospital on June 9 for a lung infection.

Reacting to the statements from Syed Abdul Rahman and Dell, Uthayakumar expressed disappointment that while the police had access to the postmortem report, the family of the deceased was denied that access.

"If Syed Abdul Rahman is serious about the matter he should stop making political statements and resolve the issue within two weeks. As for the his deputy Dell, he could not have made a statement attributing lung infection as the cause of death if he had not seen the postmortem report.

"He must have seen the report but shouldn't the family also be given a copy of the report. Are we living in a police state where there is no transparency or accountability?" Uthayakumar asked.

Funeral rites for Tharma were held at his home at the Seri Sarawak flats in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.