'Family planned for Kevin Morais to be buried, not cremated'

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The family of slain deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais preferred his remains to be buried, not cremated, his brother David Ramesh said today.

David told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that the family followed the Catholic practice of burying the deceased and not cremating, The Star Online reported.

David and his other brother Charles had requested a second post-mortem to be conducted on Kevin’s body, while Richard, the youngest among the four siblings, said he was satisfied with the results of the government's autopsy and wanted a cremation.

Cross-examined by lawyer M Manoharan who is representing three of the six accused of Kevin’s muder, as to why Richard requested for cremation, David replied “No, it will always be a mystery."

The witness added that the decision denied his family the option to exhume Kevin's body or perform a second post-mortem.

Replying to another question from another defence lawyer, Geethan Ram Vincent, who asked why he agreed with Charles for a second post-mortem, David, who is a logistics specialist, said it was due to the initial finding of the police that the cause of death was “unknown”.

Second opinion was wanted

"I wanted to get a second opinion, nothing wrong with that. When you buy a car or a house, you get a second opinion. It would have helped us get closure," he told the court.

Six men, G Gunasekaran, 48; R Dinishwaran, 24; AK Thinesh Kumar, 23; M Vishwanath, 26; Nimalan, 23; and Ravi Chandaran, 35, on Jan 27 claimed trial to their joint charge of murdering Kevin.

All six are accused of committing the offence between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015, between Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and No 1, Jalan USJ1/6D Subang Jaya.

Army pathologist Col Dr R Kunasegaran, 53, who is charged with abetting with the six accused of the murder, also claimed trial.

Police found Kevin's body on Sept 16, 2015, but the cause of his death was not determined until the full autopsy report was completed on Oct 22 last year.

The hearing before Justice Azman Abdullah resumes on May 3.



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