‘Possibility of assault dismissed after conducting post-mortem’

SHAH ALAM: A forensic specialist told the coroner’s court that his initial assumption that Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was assaulted was dismissed after a post-mortem was conducted on the firefighter’s remains.

Kuala Lumpur Hospital Forensic Department head Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood said this conclusion was reinforced with a reconstruction of the collision involving the vehicle Adib was in.

This, he said, led his team to conduct a clinical examination on Adib, 17 days before he died.

The results were compared with the results of the postmortem, which led them to dismiss the possibility of assault.

“My team and I were called in by police to the National Heart Institute (to conduct the clinical examination on Nov 30).

“We assumed it would be a straightforward examination.

“We assumed that they were assault injuries, and we did consider (Adib being) kicked and punched.

“But after examining him, we were unsure of the possibility of Adib being assaulted based on the pattern of his injuries,” said Dr Shah, who is the 27th witness in an inquest to determine the cause of Adib’s death.

He said his team’s assumptions were dismissed in the reconstruction, which was conducted by police and the HKL forensic team on Dec 22, five days after Adib’s death.

“Five days later and with the completion of the post-mortem, we unravelled the matter.

“It was done with the help of the reconstruction and based on our expertise.

“It was based on his injuries and facts which we had.

“His injuries were unique… The examinations that were conducted are the most precise for now, unless there is extra evidence,” he said in a summary of his testimony before coroner Rofiah Mohamad.

A video clip of Adib being carried by several men on the night of the Nov 27 riot was played during the proceedings.

The video clip, which went viral, was used by counsel Syazlin Mansor, who represented the Housing and Local Government Ministry and Fire and Rescue Department, while she was questioning Dr Shah.

It was shown to clarify Dr Shah’s previous statement that Adib did not wear his firefighter uniform on the night of the riot.