PETALING JAYA: People who do not distinguish between a suspect and a criminal believe that beatings that occur in lock-ups are justified, opined a criminologist.
Dr Geshina Mat Saat, from Universiti Sains Malaysia's School of Health Sciences, believes this perception is unfair as those in custody had not yet been found guilty of any crime.
"Some of suspects were later found to be innocent of the crime they were accused of," said Dr Geshina, who is also a psychologist.
She also said some did not differentiate between petty criminals and career criminals, and believed petty criminals would 'grow' into serious criminals.
Dr Geshina, however, stressed that only about 10-15% of these petty criminals would become serious or career criminals.
"Most are petty criminals who stop when they get gainful employment or have a strong reason to stop their activities," she said.
However, Padang Serai MP N.Surendran said people are disturbed by the number of deaths in police custody and want an immediate end to it.
"There is a perception that the police are being let off lightly. Lock-up deaths are the ultimate denial of human rights," he said.
Over last four weeks, four people have died in police custody, the latest being that of 33-year-old Japanese international Nobuhiro Matsushita who was found hanged with his own shirt at the USJ 8 police station lock-up on June 8.
On June 1, P.Karuna Nithi, 41, was found unconscious in a Tampin police station lock-up and was later pronounced dead, while James Ramesh had died a week earlier in Penang.
On May 21, N. Dhamendran was found dead at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters lock-up.
Source: The Star
Dr Geshina Mat Saat, from Universiti Sains Malaysia's School of Health Sciences, believes this perception is unfair as those in custody had not yet been found guilty of any crime.
"Some of suspects were later found to be innocent of the crime they were accused of," said Dr Geshina, who is also a psychologist.
She also said some did not differentiate between petty criminals and career criminals, and believed petty criminals would 'grow' into serious criminals.
Dr Geshina, however, stressed that only about 10-15% of these petty criminals would become serious or career criminals.
"Most are petty criminals who stop when they get gainful employment or have a strong reason to stop their activities," she said.
However, Padang Serai MP N.Surendran said people are disturbed by the number of deaths in police custody and want an immediate end to it.
"There is a perception that the police are being let off lightly. Lock-up deaths are the ultimate denial of human rights," he said.
Over last four weeks, four people have died in police custody, the latest being that of 33-year-old Japanese international Nobuhiro Matsushita who was found hanged with his own shirt at the USJ 8 police station lock-up on June 8.
On June 1, P.Karuna Nithi, 41, was found unconscious in a Tampin police station lock-up and was later pronounced dead, while James Ramesh had died a week earlier in Penang.
On May 21, N. Dhamendran was found dead at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters lock-up.
Source: The Star
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