A.Kugan – A Hero or Criminal? 古甘－是英雄或罪犯？

The death of A.Kugan, a suspected car thief has created a controversy that has the potential of becoming a racial conflict.

The circumstance of A.Kugan’s death led to speculation that he was victim of police brutality. A.Kugan was a suspect and until proven in court, he is innocent.

While it may be difficult to illicit information from the suspect, the right of the suspect should be respected. The police have not done a good job in explaining his death and this must have led the victim’s family to demand a second post mortem.

A healthy young man should not die while in police custody. What causes his lung to have fluid (probably a pleural diffusion) should have triggered senior police officer to probe further since a healthy person would not have fluid in the lung without an underlying cause – infection, trauma and etc.

Failing to identify this must have triggered the family outburst.

The 2 Deputy Ministers have no choice but to be at the mortuary on the requests of A.Kugan family members. They are doing their work as MP and if they have not shown up, they will be bombarded by the family members and public. To their credit, their intervention led to the Deputy Prime Minister to request for a 2^nd post mortem.

When it comes to 2^nd post mortem, the police have been very defensive rather than helpful to manage what is obviously a PR disaster by the police.

This only serves to provoke anger among family members and public. The police have a job to do; they should be doing it well and beyond suspicion of a possible cover up about the actual cause of death of A.Kugan.

The harsh statement by the Minister of Internal Security only serves to ignite more anger.

Of course we all agreed that issue like this should not be politicized or assume a racial overtone.

The poor handling of this case certainly serve to strengthen the Hindraf claim of marginalization of a particular ethnic group in our country.

Common sense and professionalism should prevail. The police need badly a PR course in handling the press and aggrieved family members.

Arrogance and the know-all attitudes among some police offices will only further alienate public co-operation with the police.

Let’s hope that the 2^nd post mortem will shed more light into A.Kugan’s death. Whoever is responsible for his death should be dealt with promptly. Only then it will serve to restore some confidence and respect among the people towards our police force.

Meanwhile, the police and the doctors involved in the post mortem should be allowed to do their work.

偷车疑犯古甘阿南达之死，掀起了一场可能会引发种族冲突的争议。

古甘的也死引起猜测，怀疑他是警察暴力的受害者。虽为嫌犯，直至法庭宣判有罪以前，他仍是无辜的。

向嫌犯套口供非易事，但嫌犯的权力也应被尊重。在古甘的事件，警方没有详加解释其死因，以致死者家属要求第二回验尸。

一个健康的年轻人不可能无端端在扣留所里暴毙。死者肺部为何出现积水（可能因胸膜扩散），高级警官理应展开进一步调查，因为一个健康的人若非受到感染、外伤等，绝不会出现肺积水的现象。

当局未能确定这点，因而导致死者家属悲愤填膺。

鉴于死者家属的要求，两位副部长别无他法必须现身太平间。其实，他们也是在履行国会议员的职责。若两人没有出现，必将受家属、民众等千夫所指。他俩的介入，也促使副首相要求当局进行第二回验尸。在这方面，两位副部长应记一功。

事情演变到第二回解剖验尸，警方本应力补公共关系处理失当的弱点，惟当局反而显得层层设防。

这样做只会进一步激怒死者的家属和民众。警方必须执行他们的职责，而且须执行得当，侦查古甘真正的死因厘清疑点。

至于内政部长严厉的声明，只会点燃众怒，让更多人生气。

当然，我们都认同类似的课题不该被政治化，或被套上种族色彩。

此案件若处理不当，必将加强兴都权益委员会所提出的我国边缘化特定族群的申诉。

警方必须具备常识和展现专业精神。警方也迫切需要接受应对媒体及愤恨家属的公共关系培训。

部分警员傲慢和自以为是的态度，只会疏远人民和警方和合作。

让我们期望第二回解剖结果能进一步解释古甘的死因。任何涉及致死他的人应当受到对付。唯有这样才能恢复人民对警方的信心和尊重。

与此同时，让负责此案的警员和医生去执行他们的工作吧。