'I regret sending my son to navy,' says late cadet's father

The father of deceased navy cadet officer J Soosaimanicckam has expressed regret over his decision to send his son to the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Joseph Sinappan said his son was in perfect condition as he went through multiple physical tests before joining the training.

“I regret sending him to the navy. Due to their carelessness and negligence, my son died,” he told reporters in front of Petaling Jaya district police headquarters after lodging a police report following the Ipoh’s High Court’s homicide ruling three days ago.

The Ipoh High Court found that alleged ragging victim Soosaimanicckam died of homicide during training six years ago.

Judge Abdul Wahab Mohamed ruled that the 27-year-old’s death was a direct consequence of the navy officers in charge of his training.

The family’s counsel N Surendran said the government's silence over such an important ruling is deafening.

“Do you mean to say that a High Court judge in this country can deliver a serious homicide verdict over the death of a navy cadet during training and no one in authority has anything to say?” he said.

Govt must swiftly act on verdict

Surendran further expressed disappointment over the lack of urgency in reacting to the court’s ruling as it could dissuade others from wanting to serve the country.

“So, moving forward, whatever steps that need to be taken, the government must take because that is their responsibility.

“A death has occurred, let the death at least avoid all other future similar deaths,” Surendran said.

Following that, Surendran demanded that the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman take over the investigation and conduct a more thorough probe into what actually happened to Soosaimanicckam.

He said that this is important as it would serve as a lesson for officers responsible for the care of new cadets to avoid negligence in future cases.

“Now, why do I say that? This was the death of a navy cadet in a training camp. This involves the navy, this involves security, this is a very, very serious matter.

“So they have to take this very seriously and carry out an investigation, that’s very important. So we want Bukit Amman to launch the investigation immediately,” he said.

On May 19, 2018, the 27-year-old’s death was confirmed at the Lumut Military Hospital.

The following day in a media statement, the navy said the graduate cadet officer suffered chest pain and shortness of breath at his hostel after undergoing his daily training and was sent to the hospital for treatment.

The doctor on duty was said to have given respiratory support and treatment to the victim but was pronounced dead at 1.45pm.

The Manjung District police said the forensic medical report ruled out foul play and that Soosaimanicckam died of fluid in the lungs. The case was classified as sudden death.

The deceased’s family has an ongoing civil suit against the navy at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

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