The Prisons Department will set up a board of inquiry to investigate the death of a youth, A Subramaniam, who was allegedly assaulted by officials at the Air Molek prison in Johor.

Responding to a complaint by Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim), the department's deputy director general Md Noh Murad said instructions have been issued for the board to be set up as soon as possible.

Held in dark room

Md Noh, in a letter dated April 1 to Prim, said: "We have also instructed the board to carry out a thorough investigation into the case and to prepare a detailed report o­n it. The report will be made available to you as soon as possible."

(Prim made the letter available to malaysiakini today.)

Prim legal advisor P Uthayakumar ( photo ), who represented Subramaniam's father P Arumugam, had written to the Prisons Department contending that the Air Molek prison personnel were responsible for the youth's death o­n March 20.

Uthayakumar lodged a complaint that Subramaniam, his friend S Sherma Naidu, and two other detainees had been assaulted and tortured by prison officials after they went o­n a hunger strike to protest against filthy conditions in the prison.

"They four were then held in a dark room and were o­nly given water and a bun to eat daily. It was unfortunate that Subramaniam then died," he had said in the letter of complaint dated March 28..

An English tabloid reported that Subramaniam, a construction worker from Perak, was detained with three others at Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, o­n Aug 12 last year for allegedly kidnapping a boy aged 12.

They were taken to the Simpang Renggam detention centre o­n Nov 19 last year before being transferred to the Air Molek prison early this month.

It was in Air Molek that Subramaniam allegedly fell ill and died while being rushed to the hospital. His parents lodged a police report claiming police brutality and lack of care in the lock-up.

However, Johor police chief Mukhtar Ismail said police investigations have ruled out foul play in the detainee's death.

Inquest not held

Uthayakumar said Sherma's father N. Surianarian was worried for his son's safety and that of two others who, he claimed, are still being held in the same room.

In his letter, Uthayakumar demanded that the trio be taken out of the room and given medical attention immediately.

"They should be relocated to another prison as the family members have lost confidence in the Air Molek prison authorities after the death of Subramaniam," he said..

The politician and lawyer also claimed that their families were not allowed to visit the detainees o­n March 22, two days after Subramanian died.

"Why should the officials stop the families from visiting? It was as if they had something to hide. It was o­nly after our letter of complaint o­n March 28, that the families were allowed to visit the detainees," he said.

While he welcomed the prison's decision to hold an inqiry, Uthayakumar regretted that the police had refused to push for an inquest before a coroner as provided under the Criminal Procedure Code.

"The police said he (Subramaniam) died of natural causes due to 'supparative meningitis' illness. How can a young man in his 20s die of natural causes? It is illogical especially since the deceased was healthy before the arrest," he said.

He pointed out that deaths in detention cannot be taken lightly because this is rampant in Malaysia, and claimed that the relevant authorities have not done their utmost to prevent this from happening.