Dead teen’s mother demands probe on police

A woman today asked that an independent commission be set up to investigate the fatal shooting of her son by police on October 20 last year after he was believed to be involved in snatch thefts.

Sapiah Elah, 52, from Simpang Waha Felda, Kota Tinggi, said the authority had still not carried out a thorough investigation nor explained the fatal shooting of her son, Mohd Afham Arin, 18, although the incident happened seven months ago.

“I’m not satisfied as police also tried to bluff me by saying that my son was still alive when I arrived at the Seri Alam police station when he was already dead after being shot at by police in the early hours of Sept 20.

“I am also disappointed that I had to wait long to meet the Johor CID chief over the incident and to claim my son’s body from the Sultanah Aminah Hospital,” she said at a press conference arranged by Johor Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), here, today.

Sapiah claimed that Mohd Afham who was riding the motorcycle with 19-year-old Mohd Firdaus Marsani as pillion rider, was a good son and had no previous criminal record.

She urged the Home Ministry to view the incident seriously and hoped that an independent commission of inquiry could clear her son’s name as he was alleged by police to have been involved in 25 robbery cases.

Mohd Firdaus who also demanded justice in the case, refuted the police allegation that he had waved a machete at the policemen, thus forcing the policemen to shoot at them in self-defence.

He related that he and Mohd Afham were chased by three men on motorcycles in Taman Johor Jaya after having dinner.

He said that out of fear, as the three men were in plainclothes and did not show their authority cards, Mohd Afham sped off towards Pasir Gudang with the three men giving chase.

“On reaching a corner near the bridge on the route to Seri Alam, I heard a gunshot from behind followed by two more shots which caused us to fall from the motorcycle,” recalled Mohd Firdaus who managed to flee the scene after falling into some bushes.

He claimed that the death of Mohd Afham who was a student of the Ledang Community College and was undergoing training in Larkin, here, was due to police negligence.

Mohd Firdaus said that in January he gave a statement to the police on the incident but until today had not received any feedback from them. — Bernama