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| Kevin Morais brothers David, (Left), Charles (right) and Richard (back) |
Kevin Morais murder trial: Family planned a burial, not cremation, court told
KUALA LUMPUR: The brother of murdered deputy public prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais told the High Court that the family intended to have his remains buried, not cremated.
In Kevin’s murder trial, logistics specialist David Ramesh said their family followed the Catholic practice of burying the deceased.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer M. Manoharan asked if he knew why youngest brother Datuk Richard had requested the cremation.
"No, it will always be a mystery," said David, adding that the decision denied the family the option to exhume Kevin's body or perform a second postmortem.
Dressed in a white shirt and black slacks, he spoke softly during his testimony here on Friday.
When asked to identify a photo of Kevin's remains, he became visibly emotional, pausing a moment before replying.
It was reported that brothers David and Charles had requested for a second postmortem, while Richard testified that he was satisfied with the results of the Government's autopsy.
Questioned by lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent on why he concurred with Charles' call for a second postmortem, David said it was due to the police's initial finding that the cause of death was "unknown".
"I wanted to get a second opinion, nothing wrong with that. When you by a car or a house, you get a second opinion. It would have helped us get closure," he said.
Though Kevin's corpse was found on Sept 16, 2015, the cause of death was not determined until the full autopsy report was completed on Oct 22 that year.
On Jan 27 this year, six men - G. Gunasekaran, 48; R. Dinishwaran, 24; A. K. Thinesh Kumar, 23; M. Vishwanath, 26; Nimalan, 23; and Ravi Chandaran, 35 - claimed trial to charges of murdering Kevin.
They are accused of committing the offence between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015, between Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and No. 1 Jalan USJ1/6D, Subang Jaya.
Army pathologist Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, 53, pleaded not guilty to abetting the six in the murder.
They face the mandatory death penalty if convicted under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Counsel Datuk N. Sivananthan and Geethan Ram acted for Kunaseegaran, counsel V. Rajehgopal defended Gunasekaran, Vishwanath, Nimalan and Ravi Chandaran, while lawyer Manoharan acted for Dinishwaran and Thinesh Kumar.
The trial before Justice Azman Abdullah continues May 3.
