Fadzrin Zaidi, 29, had been detained by police in a drug raid but was found dead in his cell two days later.

In delivering her verdict, Norsalha Hamzah said that based on testimony from nine witnesses and closed-circuit TV (CCTV) footage from the cell, Fadzrin “appeared to have willingly committed suicide”.

Based on the CCTV footage, she said, Fadzrin had appeared to wander around his cell while his cellmates were asleep at 1.05am before hanging himself at 1.51am. He was pronounced dead by paramedics at 2.55am.

“It shows that he really wanted to take his own life without any force from any other party. There are no criminal elements that led to his death,” she said.

“It is likely that the deceased was ashamed to have been caught by police as he was about to get married soon.”

Fadzrin’s mother, Fadhelah Othman, 54, stormed off at the end of the verdict and sobbed. She later said it was highly unlikely that her son would take his own life, describing the verdict as “unfair”.

“My husband (Zaidi Mohd Din) passed away last year after becoming sick thinking of Fadzrin day and night,” she said.

The family’s lawyer, V Sanjay Nathan, said he had been instructed to sue the police and government for negligence.

Fadzrin, from Kampung Perlis in Butterworth, was first arrested by police for alleged drug possession with friends at an undisclosed location on Nov 20, 2019, Fadhelah said.

Police obtained a five-day remand order the next day and he was placed at the centralised lock-up at the North Seberang Perai district police headquarters.

He was declared dead on Nov 22 by police, who claimed he committed suicide. His death certificate stated the cause of death as being “consistent with hanging”.

Yazid Mustaqim Roslan assisted the coroner in the case.

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