The Malaysian Insight

THE parents of Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gadaffi have refused to meet the police or the state medical authorities over the post mortem results of their son’s death, saying the authorities can deal with their lawyer instead.

Thaqif’s father, Mohd Gadaffi Mat Karim, said he and his wife were  upset with the authorities for informing the media of the post mortem results before the family. 

He also said the post-mortem report was “illogical and dubious”.

“If my son really had leptospirosis, why are we only finding out about it nearly three months after he has passed away?”

His wife, Felda Wani Ahmad questioned why hadn’t any of the other pupils at Madrasah Tahfiz Al-Jauhar contracted the disease if Thaqif had indeed died of leptospirosis.

The last check showed the school had 109 pupils and six teachers.

“Something is not right,” Felda told The Malaysian Insight.

“We don’t want to meet them. They will ask us to sign papers which we will not know anything about. Just like how they asked me to sign documents allowing them to amputate my son’s legs,” Gadaffi said.

Gadaffi and Felda were asked to go to the Kota Tinggi police headquarters today for a briefing by state medical officers on the post mortem report.

“Let our lawyer settle this,” the distraught father said.

“We feel we are being played by the authorities.

Gadaffi also hit out at Madrasah Tahfiz Al-Jauhar, which earlier today expressed relief that there had not been foul play and declared the “case closed”.

“They are pious but they make us feel disgusted. They didn’t even apologise. A kid will never lie,” he said, referring to his late son’s statement that he had been beaten with a rubber hose by the assistant school warden.

The principal Mohamad Afdhaluddin Ismail had told reporters earlier today that the post-mortem results proved that no abuse had taken place in the school in Kota Tinggi, Johor.

Meanwhile, the family lawyer Hishamuddin Hashim told The Malaysian Insight they are preparing a letter of demand to the Health Ministry  seeking a full explanation for recent events.

“We want a full report from the ministry before deciding on our next course of action,” he said.

“We want a third party to assess the medical report. We will try and get an expert opinion, probably from a private hospital

Thaqif had his legs amputated due to bacterial infection before he died on April 26. He was due to have his right arm amputated after it turned necrotic but doctors had decided to postpone the operation as his condition worsened. He died a few hours later.

It is understood that Thaqif had complained to his mother about the beatings he endured at the hands of the assistant school warden and had also written in his diary how the abuse had started in March.

The first post mortem showed there were signs of abuse but a second post mortem was conducted and the results showed that he died of bacterial infection.

The school’s 29-year-old assistant warden was arrested to facilitate investigations but was later released on a RM20,000 court bond.

Earlier today, police said they will push for an inquest to be held to ascertain Thaqif’s cause of death and that the case against the assistant warden will be reclassified from murder to causing harm. – July 11, 2017.