KUALA LUMPUR – Deceased naval cadet-in-training J. Soosaimanicckam, who died in 2018, could have survived if the Royal Malaysian Navy officers did not deny him further medical attention at that time, said the Ipoh High Court today.
Having considered the materials presented to the court, including medical experts’ testimonies, judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed dismissed the coroner’s court decision of an open verdict to a homicide, delivered at this morning’s proceeding.
An open verdict means that the coroner’s court could not identify the circumstances that had caused his death.
“With greatest of respect to the learned coroner, (the judge) took the easy way out of coming to an ‘open verdict’ without considering the evidence before her.
“Considering all the evidence before the inquest and coroner’s limited judicial appreciation of them, this court, therefore, sets aside the finding of the coroner’s ‘open verdict’ and substitute (the verdict) with ‘homicide’, and that the cause of the deceased’s death is pulmonary oedema (fluid in the lungs) caused by leptospirosis.
“His untimely death is a direct consequence of the navy officers in charge of the cadet’s training in denying the deceased to seek medical treatment,” said Wahab today.
Soosaimanickam’s family was represented by lawyer Zaid Malek, while Cheang Lek Choy appeared as the watching brief for Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and deputy public prosecutor Evangeline Simon for the prosecution.
Soosaimanickam, who was 27 years old at the time of his death, died on May 19, 2018, when undergoing training at KD Sultan Idris naval base in Lumut, Perak.
He had reported for duty on May 12, the same year, a week before his death.
The Ipoh coroner’s court, presided by sessions court judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad, had delivered an open verdict on June 16, 2023 after finding that the deceased was feeling unwell two days before his death.
The judge said the established cause of his death was pulmonary edema, in acknowledging that the deceased was declared dead at Lumut Armed Forces Hospital.
The deceased’s family, unsatisfied with the coroner’s decision at that time, filed an appeal against the verdict.
Meanwhile, the late Soosaimanickam’s father, S. Joseph, filed a civil suit against the government, Malaysian Armed Forces Council and 13 others, where he claimed that they acted in negligence when they failed to give the much-needed medical attention at that time, which led to his son’s death.
The suit was filed on May 19, 2021, when its hearing began in March, and will continue tomorrow before judge Idah Ismail. – July 29, 2024