After almost three days of bureaucratic wrangling, the second post-mortem on teenager Johari Abu Bakar, who was shot dead by police on May 13, is now under way.

Universiti Malaya Medical Centre deputy director Dr Mustafa Ali Mohd said the post-mortem on Johari, who would have been 17 next month, is being done now, after all the legal issues were sorted out.

“We have cleared all the legal matters. There are lots of normal procedural matters, as it is, and we have decided to go ahead without them and to keep to the court order.

johari abu bakar police shooting victim 150511 “We had to really make sure first that this is legal, as even the pathologist was apprehensive to proceed without legal clearance,” Mustafa said.

On Wednesday, the High Court ordered a second post-mortem to be conducted on Johari ( right ) in the presence of an independent observer.

Following this, the family removed Johari’s body from Serdang Hospital, where the first post-mortem was conducted, to UMMC for the second procedure.

Mustafa said UMMC staff could not take the body in before first making sure that the letter from the court was authentic.

“(The family and their lawyer) also did not call ahead to make sure that we had space in our freezer, before just showing up with the body,” he said.

Johari's body was finally taken into the morgue at 7pm, after four hours in the hearse, unpreserved.

Mustafa said the proper procedure was to call beforehand and fax the court order to allow UMMC to verify the document, and prepare to accept the body, before turning up at the hospital.

Hours of ‘legal discussions’

He said the delay was also caused by the family’s inability to provide an independent observer.

“They family lawyer only confirmed that they could not provide an observer at 2pm yesterday,” he said.

The lawyer’s letter, Mustafa said, stated that the mother has consented that the post-mortem be conducted without an observer, but UMMC's legal advisers said this was inadmissible.

pkr weekly pc 120707 latheefa “Our adviser told us that the requirement for an independent observer can only be waived by the court,” he said.

Earlier, family lawyer Latheefa Koya ( left ) said UMMC was further delaying the post-mortem, even though an independent observer from the Malaysian Medical Association, Dr Thong Kok Wai, was present.

The hospital had asked that the pathologist from the first post-mortem be present as well as the police, which Mustafa said was normal procedure.

The hospital decided to do away with this requirement after hours of discussion over legal matters today. 

The second post-mortem is being conducted by Dr Karunakaran Mathiharan.

Odour from body even at Serdang Hospital morgue

Contacted earlier, Latheefa said that the body had showed signs of decomposition when it was finally moved into the morgue, with family members claiming that the boy's face had become unrecognisable.

“They were asked to help move the body out of the hearse, and they said there was already liquid seeping out. The stench was really bad,” she said.

A relative who observed the body when it was moved from Serdang Hospital said it was emitting an unpleasant odour even when it was taken out of the morgue there.

“We are also questioning their procedures here. The Serdang Hospital was not just issued with a court order to release the body but to release the body for a second post-mortem, so it should have taken proper care. The hearse had no refrigeration,” she said.

Police claim that Johari, a secondary school dropout turned odd-job worker, was shot when he opened fire at cops who found him hiding out at a budget hotel in Dengkil, after allegedly stealing a car in Kelana Jaya on May 10.

However, his family claims that the boy sustained bruises and a broken arm.