COMMENT | The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) hearing into the death in custody of S Balamurugan on Feb 8, 2017, has revealed a great number of disturbing details.

Before continuing, it is important to remember that what happened to Balamurugan is not an isolated incident that only happens to hardened criminals.

This ongoing abuse affects anyone who may find themselves in police custody, and in Malaysia today, it really isn’t as unlikely, as we think, to find ourselves wrongly arrested.

Let’s pay careful attention to what is ongoing in police lock-ups, in order to ensure that our loved ones will never meet the painful, barbaric fate of Balamurugan.

I will begin with a recap and some observation. After the current round of hearing ends this Friday, we will explore in detail some of the more technical failures to adhere to the law and the rules and standard procedures of our police force, PDRM...