Old Video Of Ipoh Security Guard Being Assaulted Emerges After His Death On Friday
The victim's family say they cannot remain quiet and that they were forced to take to social media after no concrete action was taken by the police against the suspect.
By Sadho Ram — 29 Aug 2021, 03:17 PM — Updated almost 3 years ago
On Saturday, 28 August, a post alleged that a security guard died on Friday, 27 August, due to complications from injuries that he sustained when he was brutally assaulted while on duty in December last year
The post, uploaded on Facebook by a family member, also included several pictures of the victim.
One of them carried screenshots from closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage that captured the assault.
The other pictures describe the deteriorating conditions of the victim over the past eight months from the time he was hospitalised to the day he passed away at his home with his wife by his frail body.
The post has since gone viral with over 13,000 shares and hundreds of comments.
The family member said that they cannot remain quiet any longer and that they were forced to take to social media after no concrete action was taken by the police against the suspect.
SAYS has access to the footage but is choosing not to carry in the story due to the extremely violent nature of the assault that includes the suspect throwing the guard's table at him, making him fall to the floor.
The guard appears unresponsive after he hits the floor as the suspect tries to move him around.
According to the victim's family member, the incident happened on the morning of 29 December 2020 at a condominium in Ipoh, Perak
The suspect who assaulted the guard was staying there as a homestay guest with his family and had come down to the swimming pool area on the 7th floor with his son, the Facebook post stated.
However, due to standard operating procedures (SOPs) that were in effect at the time under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) for the control of COVID-19, the guest was informed that only the adult swimming pool was open and the swimming pool for children was not allowed to be open, the post added.
The homestay guest didn't want to follow the instructions and let his son play at the pool.
The family member alleges that another security guard who was also on duty at the time then informed the management office with the manager trying to reason with the guest to no avail.
After some time, when the victim was at his desk and checking the visitor's record, the homestay guest came with his son and started arguing and provoking him, according to the post.
"My uncle explained to him the danger if he didn't follow the rules. After some time the homestay guest pushed my uncle's table with the intention to use it as a weapon to hit him. He was hit twice with the table and the homestay guest forcefully pushed him to the ground," the family member added.
"After he did it, all the while his son was with him witnessing all that, he (the suspect) was roaming around that area for some time and suddenly ran over to the management office to inform the clerk that the guard has fallen down and that he only wanted to help him," he went on in the post, adding that once the manager arrived there and saw the broken table, they went to check the CCTV which revealed the truth.
The management then took the victim to the Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun in Ipoh, with the manager going to Pekan Bahru police station, where the corporal took the report regarding the incident.
However, when the victim's wife went to the police station to lodge a report on the victim's behalf, the family member alleges that the officers at the police station refused to take the report.
"This happened when I went to the Pekan Bahru police station as well after some days. The police department kept telling us that this case is still under investigation and the Investigation Officer (IO) had told the other officers not to take the report on the victim's family behalf," he added in the post.
The family member alleges that while the victim was still at the hospital, the IO didn't call the victim's family in the first two weeks
He wrote in the post that even though the accused was charged with Section 324 and he was remanded for two days, he appeared at the Ipoh Magistrate Court on 6 January 2021 under Section 335 and was out under bail, freely roaming while his uncle was fighting for his life in the hospital.
Section 324 of the Penal Code covers voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons likely to cause death and carries 10 years behind bars or fine or whipping or any two of the punishments.
Section 335 of the Penal Code covers causing grievous hurt on provocation and carries a lighter sentence of four years behind bars with a fine if found guilty.
"We have waited for eight months due to some legal advisors asked us not to reveal anything but now we want justice and whatever damage the accused did to my uncle, he needs to face the consequences and face the actual detention," the family member said, adding that he needs to be held responsible.
Following the viral post of the family member, Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid have issued a statement to clarify a few things
According to a report in Bernama, the Perak police chief acknowledged that the incident.
He also noted that the suspect was charged on 6 January at the Ipoh Magistrate's Court under Section 335 with causing grievous hurt, adding that the case is scheduled to be mentioned on 9 September.
However, in light of the new evidence, they have reopened an investigation under Section 326.
It covers voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means likely to cause death and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars with a fine or whipping if found guilty.
According to a report in Malaysiakini, the suspect was identified as Noor Azhar Muhammad, who is said to be a Kota Bharu Bersatu Youth division member.
Mior said that while a post-mortem by the Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun has found the cause of death was due to lung infection (sepsis), the victim's family members are dissatisfied and have since claimed that the cause of death was due to the assault and have uploaded the footage of the incident.
"Based on this new evidence, the police will refer the investigation paper on the case to the Perak deputy public prosecutor's (DPP) office for further instructions," he was quoted as saying yesterday.
"We also urge the public not to speculate on the matter as it is still a court case."
Meanwhile, Ipoh Barat member of Parliament (MP) M Kula Segaran has called on the Perak DPP to reclassify the case on a murder charge
In a statement today, 29 August, Kula said that the wife of the deceased had come to see him in early August asking for assistance as she complained that no concrete action had been taken by the police.
"As the victim has succumbed to death due to the injuries sustained, I urge the DPP to request the police to do a thorough investigation again and reclassify this case on a murder charge," he added.
The former minister noted that the suspect is apparently on bail and in view of changed circumstances, the earlier case needs to be withdrawn and the suspect should possibly be charged for murder.
"Nobody is above the law and no one should take the law into his own hands. This case is also a reflection of a larger moral issue of the powerful, failing to comply with established rules and procedures and tendencies to act violently against the weak when ego needs are not met," said the local MP.
Kula added that the victim's wife has now approached him to assist in the court matters and see that appropriate justice is dispensed, promising that his party, DAP, will provide necessary legal assistance.
