Thaqif’s mother, Felda Wani Ahmad, said she was in the dark over the cause of his death on April 26, and called on the health ministry and the hospital which conducted the autopsy to issue the report without delay.
“At the time that he died, the hospital said the report would be issued within a month of his passing away,” she said.
“It has been over 40 days since his death but till now we have not received the autopsy report and we are still waiting for it.
“We just want to know if he was sick. We want to know the cause of death,” she told a press conference here today.
Present was Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association’s (PPIM) legal bureau chairman Hishamuddin Hashim, who also called for the report to be issued immediately to put an end to any speculation about the incident.
“We also hope for transparency in this matter and that there are no attempts of a cover-up,” he said.
PPIM, he added, was also prepared to offer the family its legal services.
On May 19, Bernama reported Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam as saying that the results of the second autopsy were expected to be known in two weeks.
The first autopsy, which was conducted in Hospital Sultan Ismail, Johor Bahru, where Thaqif was warded and subsequently died, failed to reveal the cause of death.
Felda Wani also took the authorities to task for not informing the family about when Thaqif’s remains were to be exhumed for the second autopsy.
“Yes, we know the court ordered for the body to be exhumed, but it was only when the villagers had gathered around his grave that we realised they were going to do it then,” she said.
The remains from the grave at Felda Bukit Aping Timur in Kota Tinggi, Johor, were exhumed on May 19.
Thaqif was admitted to Sultan Ismail Hospital, Johor Bahru, for leg injuries allegedly sustained after he was assaulted with a rubber hose by a 29-year old assistant warden, said to be an ex-convict.
The injuries caused his legs to become infected, following which both were amputated.
Doctors wanted to amputate the boy’s right arm, which had also become infected, but he died before the surgery could be performed.
The case has been classified as murder. The suspect was released on a RM200,000 court bond on May 3.