Family, rights groups demand update on probe into trainee's death

Summary

• Family members, rights groups, and Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung highlight the lack of updates on the investigation of the death of a 20-year-old student in Mersing, Johor, three years ago.

• They say the authorities’ perceived lack of action is unacceptable and urge them to act immediately.

Family members of the late Atif Abu Bakar, a 20-year-old industrial trainee allegedly beaten to death by unknown assailants in Mersing, Johor, three years ago, are seeking urgent updates to their application for an inquest.

Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung, together with representatives from Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict) and Teoh Beng Hock Association for Democratic Advancement, today raised the family’s plight at a press conference in Parliament.

“We urge the government, particularly the Attorney-General’s Chambers, to take immediate steps to uncover the truth and ensure that justice is served to Atif and his grieving family,” said Lee who read a joint statement prepared by the two organisations.

According to the groups, Atif, a student at the Mersing Industrial Training Centre went missing from his student accommodation on Dec 18, 2022, and his body was discovered the following day at a surau in Mersing.

A post-mortem determined Atif’s cause of death as “traumatic asphyxia” with 53 marks of injury, leading the family to believe he was beaten to death by unknown persons.

Met later, Edict executive director M Visvanathan, who is also representing Atif’s family, said the perceived lack of action by authorities is unacceptable.

“If you write to tell us the inquest will be conducted in November, why has it not been conducted yet?

“It has been over two years since the incident, so how long more?” he said.

The family’s revision application at the Johor Bahru High Court to compel an inquest into the death was filed after the police allegedly refused to investigate the case. 

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