An 18-year-old youth was allegedly threatened at gunpoint, assaulted until he vomited and had to watch his mother forced to partake in a mock marriage ritual after being accused of having an affair with a relative.

This is the ordeal which Fernandez Ganapathy allegedly endured at the hands of five policemen on April 28 at a secluded waterfall in Taiping, Perak.

Speaking to reporters outside the Kuala Lumpur sessions court yesterday, the youth recalled the 'torture' his mother, S Kumari, a relative and him were subjected to.

Ganapathy is the son of Michael Soosai, whose death is being disputed in court.

Soosai, who was high on the police wanted list, was said to have died of a heart attack in Sept 2003. However, following an incident in India, police have reopened investigations into his death.

Subsequently, Ganapathy's relative J Kumaresan and two other men have been charged with fabricating official documents pertaining to Soosai's death.

'Punched and kicked'

Ganapathy said after the three of them were detained, they were taken to the waterfalls by arresting officer ASP S Suresh and four other policemen.

"We were punched and kicked until I vomited and I saw Kumaresan bleeding from the mouth. My mother was made to watch the whole thing," he added.

Following this, the policemen had allegedly accused Kumari of having an affair with Kumaresan during her husband's absence. She was then allegedly forced to take part in a mock marriage ritual.

When she refused, Ganapathy claimed the policemen forced him to the ground and began stomping on his back until his mother relented.

"They forced her to take off her necklace and put it on Kumaresan's neck. She was also made to rub the 'pottu' (a traditional Indian marking placed on the forehead) onto Kumaresan's forehead," he said.

"At the waterfall, Suresh pointed his gun to my head and threatened to shoot me if I did not tell him where my father was. He started hitting me and told me I would be shot," he claimed.

Lewd remarks

After this, he said the trio were taken to the Taiping district police headquarters where a police officer allegedly brushed off the need to include the facial injuries on Ganapathy and Kumaresan in their report.

Later that night, they were then taken to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, where Ganapathy claimed their ordeal continued.

Here, he heard Kumaresan, who was held in a separate cell, scream in agony as blows rained down on him.

"I (later) saw Kumaresan's face swollen and he was walking with a limp. My mother and Kumaresan also later told me that they were beaten up, kicked, punched and tortured. She asked me to find a lawyer as she could not stand the beating," he claimed.

Ganapathy also claimed that the policemen had made lewd remarks about his mother's sexual activities.

While he was released on May 6, both Kumaresan and Kumari remained in custody.

Grandmother detained

Ganapathy's grandmother, M Kolande Mary, 75, meanwhile claimed that Suresh had told her to 'admit' giving another relative a bag containing money in order to implicate that person in the case as well.

Kolande claimed that the police detained her, from May 2-5, when she refused to do so.

She also alleged that the police told her that a payment of RM130,000 could 'close the case' and secure her release.

Both Ganapathy and his grandmother have filed police reports on their allegations and want those involved to be arrested.

Commenting on the matter, Kumaresan's lawyer P Uthayakumar said it was unjust for the police to torture the family members of Soosai on account of their inability to trace him.

"The police's incapability and inefficiency in arresting Soosai cannot be at the family's expense," he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur sessions court yesterday.

Another accused in the case, K Subramaniam, also claimed to have been abused while in police custody. Subramaniam was one of the three who were charged at the Sessions' Court yesterday with fabricating the death of Soosai.