One year has passed since G Francis Udayappan went missing from police detention. And his mother today broke into tears when Inspector-General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar did not meet her to receive a memorandum on the matter.

Amid sobs, G Sara Lily, when speaking to reporters, asked if the police chief had done something wrong and was thus avoiding her.

"If one day, his child faces the same situation, then he will know (how I feel)," she lamented when met at the Bukit Aman police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Last April, the police claimed that Francis, 24, who was detained on suspicion of theft, had fled the Brickfields district police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur by jumping into the nearby Klang river.

However, Sara claimed that her son was assaulted to death by the police but an internal investigation later ruled this out.

On May 23 last year, a highly decomposed body was retrieved from the Klang river and Sara identified it as that of her son based on a tattoo and teeth deformity.

Subsequently a DNA test was done with her blood sample and this failed to produce a match. But an unconvinced Sara accused the hospital of colluding with the police to cover up the case.

Currently, there is an inquest underway to determine the identity of the body which has been lying in the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) morgue since.

Lost faith in the police

This morning, a memorandum, endorsed by seven non-governmental organisations, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Youth and pro-tem Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim), was submitted to Bukit Aman on the matter.

Bukit Aman public relations officer ASP Wan Mohd Said received the five-page document on behalf of the IGP.

The NGOs that endorsed the memorandum include the Police Watch and Human Rights Committee, Indian Consultative Council, Basic Human Rights Protector, Hindu Consultative Committee, the ad-hoc committees against deaths in police custody and police shootings, Awas and Madpet.

"We have lost faith in the police in investigating cases against themselves and it is time that the police be held responsible for the crimes done by its officers without any cover-up from its higher authorities," read the memorandum.

It also stated that the police have yet to put anybody on trial for the deaths in custody. "We believe there is a cover-up and the police is protecting them from legal actions".

As for Francis' case, the memorandum accused the police of not being serious in dealing with it. The IGP was also urged to act against police officers who 'killed with a license'.

No reply from IGP

According to Manikavasagam, who was present at Bukit Aman, a letter seeking an appointment with the police chief was faxed to the latter on Wednesday but there was no reply.

Manikavasgam later received a fax from the police headquarters informing that the IGP was unable to meet the delegation because he had another engagement.

Meanwhile, lawyer N Surendran, who is representing Francis' family, said the police chief should have at least met up with Sara as this was a serious case.

Surendran, who was also present at Bukit Aman, added that countless memorandums have been submitted to the police but there has been no response.

The next session of the inquest will be held from May 16 to 19.