The body of police detainee G Francis Udayapan has yet to be claimed as his family has not received the post-mortem report from the Brickfields police.

According to the family's lawyer, M Manoharan (left), two letters have been sent requesting a copy of the post-mortem report, but there has been no response to date.

"The first time we asked for the post-mortem was when we saw the body at the morgue last Monday and yesterday, a second request was sent," he told reporters at his office in Kuala Lumpur today.

"The family will not claim the body until they receive the report."

Udayapan's mother, G Sara Lilly, had identified the body at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) mortuary last week as that of her son, a VCD seller.

'Apply directly'

When contacted, Brickfields district police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin said that he had yet to receive any request from the family's lawyer.

"We have not received anything. But they can also (submit a) request for the post-mortem report to the morgue at the UMMC," Zulhasnan said.

He said he has yet to receive the report from the UMMC, which has been keeping the body since it was found more than a week ago.

Udayapan, 24, was reported to have escaped from the custody of Brickfields police on April 17 and to have jumped into the Klang River which flows behind the station. The body was found 37 days later in the river behind the Petaling police station.

Sara Lilly had alleged that the Brickfields police were responsible for his death, as there has been no satisfactory explanation for his escape. The incident purportedly involved Udayapan jumping down from the first floor of the building, peeling back part of the fencing around the station, and jumping into the river.

Bukit Aman federal police stepped in to investigate her complaint, but CID Chief Musa Hassan has since ruled out foul play. An officer at the Brickfields station was, however, reported to have been suspended in connection with the alleged escape.