KUANTAN: The family of a 36-year-old prison inmate who died yesterday of injuries said to have been caused by a fall wants the police to investigate the cause of his death.
Pattah Ismail, of Kampung Batu 20, Gebeng, was six months into his 15-year jail term at Penor Prison and had been waiting to be given five strokes of the rotan.
On Wednesday, the family got the news from two prison officials who came to their house in the evening that Pattah had been admitted to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital for multiple injuries.
His family said the bachelor, who had been convicted for rape, was in a coma in the intensive care unit when they saw him that evening.
He died at 11.30am yesterday.
His younger brother, Mohd Akhbar, 29, said the family was unhappy that the prison authorities did not properly explain what caused Pattah's injuries.
"They (the officials who visited the family) said Pattah had fallen and was seriously injured, maybe dying. They said we should come quick to the hospital.
"When we got to the ICU, we saw Pattah's head was swollen and his eyes badly bruised. There were wounds on his right leg and his left arm was in a splint," he said yesterday after lodging a report at the district police headquarters.
Akhbar said they went to Penor Prison at 10pm on Wednesday to talk with the senior prison officials.
"They just said that Pattah had fallen but didn't go into details about it or even show us the spot.
"One of the officials later told us that my brother had just finished a class and was about to leave the hall with the other prisoners when he climbed the wall and then jumped off.
"We are not satisfied with the sketchy explanation and we want to know what happened to him.
"We hope that the police will investigate his death thoroughly."
Akhbar said they last met his brother on Monday, during an appeal hearing for his case.
He said his brother appeared calm and did not mention having any troubles in prison.
"He told us that he shared the cell with 40 other prisoners and that he was not in any trouble."
He said that his brother would be buried at their village in Gebeng.
Pattah's lawyer, Mohd Hisham Abdul Rahim, said they were awaiting the post-mortem report before deciding on the next course of action.