Why not murder? Rayer questions police's Section 331 probe into Noorizwan's custodial death

Jelutong MP RSN Rayer has questioned why Bukit Aman is not probing the death of 42-year-old Noorizwan Zulkefly while in police custody as an alleged murder.

The pressure from the DAP lawmaker came after Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director M Kumar yesterday said the case is being investigated under Section 331 of the Penal Code.

While the section covers the intentional infliction of grievous hurt to extort a confession or to compel the restoration of property, Rayer argued that Noorizwan’s death should instead be investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. 

In particular, the backbencher pointed out that Kumar yesterday said police have yet to obtain the complete post-mortem report confirming Noorizwan’s cause of death.

“If the complete post-mortem report has yet to be secured, and the cause of death is also unknown, how can the police rush to classify this case under Section 331 of the Penal Code?

“The injuries suffered by the late Noorizwan clearly warrant an investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code, not Section 331,” Rayer said during a press conference in Parliament today.

Lawyers representing Noorizwan’s family had also previously urged Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to direct that the detainee’s death be investigated as murder.

In explaining the Section 331 classification yesterday, Kumar said the matter was determined following statements from a forensic medical consultant at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM) who conducted the post-mortem and confirmed the presence of external injuries on several parts of the deceased's body.

The injuries are consistent with blunt-force trauma and were not self-inflicted, Kumar said in a statement last night, which came after Noorizwan’s family, accompanied by lawyers and activists, marched to Parliament to press for the case to be raised in the Dewan Rakyat.

Kumar added that probes are ongoing to identify the police officers and personnel involved in the handling and management of the victim while he was in custody at the Cheras district police headquarters.

'Name them'

Meanwhile, Rayer said the investigating officers directly involved in Noorizwan’s case when he was in custody should be clearly stated in the investigation paper.

“The personnel involved in the matter must be suspended, especially the investigating officer and the intelligence team tasked with conducting the interrogation on Noorizwan,” the parliamentarian said. 

Noorizwan died on Oct 1 after being detained at the Cheras district police headquarters lock-up for nearly 10 days. The post-mortem on his body found 21 horrific injuries, including bleeding in the brain.

READ MORE: 21 injuries, swelling of skull area, bleeding in brain and intestines: 'Silence not an option'

Bukit Aman’s involvement in the probe comes after the family sought intervention from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who then ordered the inspector-general of police to look into the matter.

The federal police did not respond to an earlier protest by the family outside Bukit Aman.

READ MORE: Rayer invokes Anwar’s 'black eye' to press authorities for explanation on Noorizwan's death

A week after Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) made public photographs documenting Noorizwan’s injuries, legal experts with the group revealed they are under investigation for allegedly pressuring HCTM to disclose the photographs.

The investigation drew criticism from former deputy law minister Ramkarpal Singh, who warned that the probe could amount to intimidation of lawyers carrying out their professional duties.

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