A mere preliminary investigation by the police is simply not sufficient to ascertain that S Pravin from Negri Sembilan committed suicide due to a love affair, said Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy.

According to the local assemblyperson, the post-mortem was done but the police said that there was nothing in this to indicate that Pravin was forced to drink the bluish liquid, nor was there any signs of assaults.

Ramasamy queried the police on the note that Pravin wrote to his father before he died about being bullied by some school boys.

“The note should not be dismissed just because he is not around any more,” he said in a statement.

“What he wrote or scribbled to his father must be taken seriously by the police. In his last critical moments, one wonders why Pravin would want to lie to his father.”

Equal weightage

Ramasamy said the police should lend equal weightage to all evidence that they have.

Undue weightage, he added, should not be given to witnesses and his close friends.

In the note Pravin left for his father, S Selvaraja, the deceased had said he was pinned down by some schools boys who then poured a bluish liquid into this mouth. Following this, he was thrown into a stream nearby.

Selvaraja had conveyed the contents of the note to the police.

Pravin, 15, later died in the hospital after being admitted for stomach pains apparently resulting from forcibly consuming the bluish liquid.

However, the police was not convinced that Pravin died as result of being forcibly fed with poison.

According to the OCPD of Nilai, Supt Zaidino Zaludin, the police have grounds to believe that the version given by the boy might not be true.

“The police came to a preliminary conclusion, after talking to only a few witnesses including Pravin's best friend, that he could have committed suicide,” Ramasamy said.

Apparently, Pravin committed suicide because a schoolmate whom he was in love with did not reciprocate.

As result he was heart-broken and took the decision to end his life.

Efficient investigation?

Ramasamy slammed MIC Youth chief Sivaraajh Chandran for praising the police for their “efficient investigation” even before a full investigation could be completed.

“They are ever eager to please those in power,” he said of the MIC Youth.

He further criticised Sivaraajh for saying that Pravin's suicide should not be made an issue by the public.

Sivaraajh should not speak on behalf of the police as he is not their advisor or patron, Ramasamy added.

“He should be effectively representing the Indian community, and not condoning attacks against members of the community,” he said.

Ramasamy also said Pravin's father Selvaraja was not convinced that his son had committed suicide.

“Why would his son write a note to him in his last dying moments to complain of what really happened?” asked the Prai assemblyperson.

“While Selvaraja is not prepared to dismiss what was written by his son, he also wants the police to go beyond preliminary investigations to determine the real cause of his son's death.

“It is very simple, let us wait for a thorough police investigation before the next course of action could be determined,” he stressed.

“If after a proper police investigation, it is concluded that Pravin indeed committed suicide, then the matter should be put to rest, but not before that."