SUBRA: DOCTOR MUST EXPLAIN
Ministry wants to know why physician who treated Zulfarhan did not alert authorities
THE Health Ministry will summon a doctor who failed to lodge a police report after treating Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM) naval cadet Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain for his injuries.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, said the ministry wanted the private clinic doctor in Section 7, Bandar Baru Bangi, to explain why he did not raise the red flag to authorities, which was a standard practice for physicians.
“That is wrong. Whenever a doctor receives a case with criminal elements, a report must be made to the police.
“If he knows there are criminal elements, it is his responsibility to report it. That is the standard practice.
“When a doctor does not do so, police can initiate an investigation into why a report was not made.
“As for the ministry, we will call the doctor up (to question) his professionalism.
“We will call the doctor soon,” said Dr Subramaniam yesterday.
He was speaking after launching a new block of classrooms at SJK(T)
Ladang Highlands in
Bukit Tinggi here.
Dr Subramaniam was asked to comment on the doctor who did not report the matter to the police when Zulfarhan was first brought to the private clinic to seek treatment for his injuries on May 27.
It was reported that after receiving treatment, the doctor had allowed Zulfarhan to go home and told him to return for further treatment on May 31.
Zulfarhan, 21, was said to have been taken by two of his batch mates to a condominium unit at Centrium Residences in Bangi to recuperate after seeking treatment.
However, at 9.10pm on June 1, he succumbed to his injuries in the condominium unit.
Zulfarhan was rushed in an ambulance to Serdang Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Following his death, 32 UPNM students and four Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) undergraduates, aged between 20 and 21, were arrested and remanded.
On June 14, five university students were charged at the Kuala Lumpur magistrate’s court with the murder of Zulfarhan, while another was charged with abetting them.
In the same court, 13 other students claimed trial together with the six, to voluntarily causing hurt to Zulfarhan with the intention of extorting a confession for the theft of a laptop.
The remaining 13 UPNM students were released on court bond and are allowed to resume their studies.