High Court reverses
coroner’s ruling that
workshop supervisor
committed suicide
Judicial Commissioner Wendy Ooi calls the coroner’s court finding a ‘miscarriage of justice’ which was ‘based on guesswork’.
Judicial Commissioner Wendy Ooi today delivered an open verdict in Kannadasan Veerasamy’s death, calling last year’s finding by the coroner’s court a
which wasmiscarriage of justice
.based on guesswork
said Kannadasan’s widow, Revathi Elangovan.We are very happy with this verdict,
My husband was a loving family man who would never have killed himself, and as the court clearly found today, there was no evidence that this is what happened.
Last December, coroner Rasyihah Ghazali found that Kannadasan, 34, started the fire which killed him in a storeroom at a car service centre in Bukit Puchong in November 2021.
She said the court, after hearing the testimony of witnesses, found that Kannadasan took his own life due to financial problems.
In delivering her judgment today, Ooi said there was no conclusive proof to show that Kannadasan committed suicide, describing him as a caring husband and father who had no motive to take his own life.
Ooi said no forensic tests were done to determine the veracity of a suicide note Kannadasan is alleged to have written, adding that the handwriting expert who testified could not determine whether the note was written or signed by Kannadasan.
she added.His wife also pointed out that her name was spelt wrongly (in the note),
According to Ooi, there was insufficient evidence that Kannadasan had misappropriated RM57,000 from his employer and borrowed RM19,000 from a friend. She called such claims
.illogical and unreasonable
She noted that no efforts were also made to determine the authenticity of a letter he purportedly signed, in which he is said to have acknowledged having taken the company’s money and promised to return it.
Ooi said the coroner had misdirected herself when she said Kannadasan started the fire in the storeroom which killed him, adding that she was not able to clarify a key contradiction in the case.
Pointing out that a report from the fire and rescue department stated the lighter Kannadasan allegedly used to start the fire was found near his body, Ooi said this contradicted the testimony from a fire and rescue department officer during the inquest that the lighter was found under his charred remains.
she said, going on to note that the lighter was not sent for forensic DNA analysis.The lighter was found to be in good condition. This does not make sense as the temperature in the storeroom was more than 500°C at the time of the fire,
She also noted that while the fire and rescue department’s report stated petrol was found on Kannadasan’s body, witnesses had testified that there was no petrol kept in the storeroom and none of them saw Kannadasan bringing petrol to the room.
Ooi said the coroner should have conducted a more detailed study of the matter instead of assuming that Kannadasan poured petrol on his body before setting himself on fire.
Did Kannadasan’s actions suggest that he intentionally set himself on fire with petrol, as concluded by the coroner? The answer is certainly no.
S Vinesh and Daneish Thayalan represented Kannadasan’s family while deputy public prosecutor Ainul Mardiyah Ali appeared for the prosecution.
Vinesh said.The family has had to go through three years of pain because of this case. While it does not completely ease their pain, today’s verdict has given them some measure of peace,
he said, adding that the family is currently considering their next course of action.It is not easy when a family member is said to have committed suicide and we’re glad the court today ruled that this was not the case,
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