Top pathologists witness 2nd Beng Hock autopsy

2009/11/22

Lee Shi-Ian

SUNGAI BULOH: A team of pathologists conducted a second autopsy on former political aide Teoh Beng Hock this afternoon at the Sungai Buloh Hospital. Present to witness the autopsy were independent Thai forensic pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunan and Dr Peter Venezis from the United Kingdom.

Dr Venezis had been hired by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as an observer for the second post-mortem.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo told reporters all the pathologists involved held an hour-long discussion about 10am.

“Teoh's body was then sent for X-rays and a CT scan as there were certain areas that the pathologists wanted to look at again,” he said.

Yesterday, Teoh's body was exhumed at the Semenyih Memorial Park before being sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

X-rays and CT scans were also done on Saturday shortly after the body arrived at the hospital.

The autopsy began at 1.10pm and the team of pathologists included Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim of the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang and Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar of University Malaya Medical Centre.

The process, expected to take between three and five hours, was completed by around 3pm although Gobind said there were no time constraints.

“We do not want to put pressure on the pathologists... time is not a factor as the autopsy should be comprehensive to answer all questions,” he said.

Gobind also revealed that Dr Pornthip had been followed by unknown individuals in several cars for the past few days and the police had been alerted.

“She was followed back to the hotel where she was staying and also to the Semenyih Memorial Park. Who these people are, we do not know. However, they should not skulk around in the shadows but come out and tell us what they want as we have nothing to hide.”

Prior to the second autopsy, Teoh's family held a simple ceremony outside the mortuary where they prayed and burnt offerings for him.

Inside the hospital, there was a light moment when the hospital's security guards took time out to have their pictures taken with Dr Pornthip.

Teoh is expected to be reburied on Tuesday at the Semenyig Memorial Park.