Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand is expected to shed light on the mysterious marks on Teoh Beng Hock's neck when she finally takes the stand on Aug 18 at the coroner's court.

NONE In a post on Twitter , lawyer for the Selangor government Malik Imtiaz Sarwar ( left ) wrote: "Pre-fall injury to the neck or not, that is the question".

Malik was referring to the second autopsy conducted on Teoh, where a hematoma (bruise) on the neck was recorded by court appointed pathologist Dr Shahidan Md Noor.

"(Was it an) indication of struggle? Violence?" asked Malik in another Twitter post.

When quizzed by lawyer Gobind Singh, who is representing Teoh's family, Shahidan agreed that Teoh could have been choked or strangled before falling out of the 14th floor window of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam.

"It was a possible scenario but not probable," said the doctor, who performed the second post-mortem on Nov 22 last year.

Shahidan ruled out death by strangulation because Teoh's windpipe was not fractured and there was no clear indication of petechial haemorrhage.

Was Teoh unconscious before fall?

The marks on Teoh's neck were strangely omitted from the first autopsy report by Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim of the Klang Hospital and Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar of the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur.

azlan It has also been established that there were no bruises on Teoh's neck before he entered Plaza Masalam on July 15, a day before he was found dead, when he reported to the Selangor branch of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

The marks on the neck have thus become the focal point of Pornthip's argument that Teoh's death was the "80 percent homicide and 20 percent suicide".

Based on Khairul and Prashant's autopsy reports and pictures, Pornthip had told the coroner's court that she was of the opinion that Teoh might have suffered injuries and was unconscious before falling.

Pornthip had earlier refused to testify at the inquest, claiming that there was political pressure in Malaysia for her to stay away from the case.

After reassurances from the Malaysian government, Pornthip later changed her mind .