SHAH ALAM, May 16 — A lawyer questioned the ‘probability report’ of a specialist medical witness in the inquest into the death of Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, that injuries to the right chest of the firefighter were caused by a curb or road shoulder.
Syazlin Mansor, representing the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia and the Housing and Local Government Ministry, said the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) Forensic Pathologist Dr Ahmad Hafizam Hasmi had a picture of the road shoulder in the report to confuse the court.
Syazlin: The doctor’s action in placing an image of the road shoulder in the report is to mislead the court. In fact, there is no need for the picture since it is not certain if the road shoulder was the cause of the victim’s chest injuries.
Dr Ahmad Hafizam: The road shoulder was one of the five objects that could have caused the injuries as they were likely caused by hitting a blunt, hard, and wide object with a rough surface. The road shoulder was already there when we carried out an experiment of the incident.
Dr Ahmad Hafizam earlier said the road shoulder could probably be the most likely cause of injuries to Muhammad Adib’s right chest and right arm based on the five criteria.
He also pointed out that the firefighter was thrown out after the front left door of Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) van hit Adib’s body.
Responding to another question from the lawyer, Dr Ahmad Hafizam explained that he did not conduct experiments blindly when carrying out his duties as a forensics expert.
“But in this case we are not 100 per cent sure that it was the road shoulder that caused injuries to the right shoulder and right arm of the victim. There are 1,001 possibilities regarding the position of the fall.
“If I had carried out the experiment blindly, it would be a waste of time,” he said.
Syalzlin: So then Doctor (you) cannot confirm with certainty the object that hit the victim’s chest which caused his death.
Dr Ahmad Hafizam: True. However, I must say with certainty to the court that the left door of the EMRS van was not the object that caused the injuries to the right side of the victim’s chest and right arm.
The inquest before Coroner Rofiah Mohamad continues tomorrow. — Bernama
