The family of a drug addict who died after being assaulted at the Cure and Care Reha­bilitation Centre (CCRC) in Kota Tinggi four years ago has been awarded RM305,000 by the High Court here.

High Court Judge Datuk Teo Say Eng ruled that the Federal Govern­ment and two former auxiliary policemen, Darmaji Darwi, 28, and Mohsin Jamari, 35, were negligent for his death.

He ordered them to pay, either jointly or separately, RM100,000 in general damages, RM200,000 in exemplary and aggravated dama­ges as well as RM5,000 for funeral expenses.

Teo also ordered the Government to pay an additional RM50,000 in costs to the plaintiff besides setting an interest rate of 5%, starting from the date when the suit was filed until the amount is settled by the defendants.

The victim’s mother, Mek Eshah Jusoh, 73, filed a lawsuit on Feb 24, 2014, seeking RM1.55mil in damages from the Government, Home Minister, National Anti-Drug Agen­cy (AADK) director-general, Kota Tinggi CCRC director, Darmaji and Mohsin.

In her suit, Mek Eshah claimed all of them were negligent, failed or misused their power to ensure the safety of her son while he was at the centre.

However, Teo struck out the lawsuit against the Home Minister, the AADK director-general and the centre director without costs.

Mohamed Ezanee, 38, entered the CRCC on Nov 14, 2013, and was physically assaulted there.

The victim was unconscious when he was admitted to Kota Tinggi Hospital. He was later transferred to Sultanah Aminah Hospital here before dying on Nov 15, 2013.

A post-mortem indicated the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Darmaji and Mohsin are serving a 15-year prison sentence after the Kota Tinggi Sessions court found them guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Lawyers Ahmad Hafiz Zubir and Auzan Sazali represented the plaintiff while Federal senior attorney Thalha Bachok represented the Go­­vernment. Darmaji and Moh­sin were unrepresented.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by Mohd Farhaan Shah

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