Twentytwo13

Hospital insists dead futsal player Sean Jayabalan had Covid-19

Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM insists that Sean Jayabalan, who died in an apparent car accident in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday, had tested positive for Covid-19.

Aliza Mansor, the hospital’s head of corporate communications and customer service, said Sean’s family members had been informed of the findings. The matter was explained further during a meeting yesterday between the next-of-kin, hospital representatives, and the police.

“We had the meeting and we explained that the deceased had tested positive for Covid-19,” said Aliza.

Sean’s father, G S. Jayabalan, however, reportedly said he would be taking legal action against the hospital, after claiming his 26-year-old son’s remains, today. Sean was cremated at the Subang Jaya City Council crematorium in Batu 14, Puchong, this afternoon.

“If the next-of-kin are still not satisfied with our explanation and want to take further action, there’s nothing much we can do,” Aliza added.

When told that Jayabalan had a screenshot of a report by the hospital stating that Sean had tested negative for Covid-19, Aliza said: “We are investigating the claims, and are working closely with the police on this.”

Jayabalan had lodged at least two police reports regarding the matter.

Sean’s sister, Kavisha, had also gone public by posting the police reports and a screenshot of the hospital report on her social media account.

Here are Twentytwo13’s news highlights for today.

VARSITY STUDENTS JAILED 18 YEARS EACH FOR CADET OFFICER’S DEATH

Six Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia students were sentenced to 18 years’ jail each for the culpable homicide of Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain in 2017.

Zulfarhan, a marine cadet officer, died from injuries caused by a steam iron.

The six are Muhammad Akmal Zuhairi Azman, Muhammad Azamuddin Mod Sofi, Muhammad Najib Razi, Muhammad Afif Najmudin Azahat, Mohamad Shobirin Sabri and Abdoul Hakeem Ali.

Akmal, Azamuddin, Najib, Afif and Shobirin were initially charged with murder, while Abdoul Hakeem was charged with abetting in the murder.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Azman Abdullah ordered the sentence to run from their date of arrest.

The six escaped the mandatory death sentence after the judge ruled that Zulfarhan’s death was not premeditated murder, although the prosecution had successfully proven that the accused had caused grievous hurt to the victim by using a steam iron.

ORGANISERS OF PROGRAMMES IN MELAKA INVOLVING MUHYIDDIN, NAJIB COMPOUNDED

The Health Ministry said there were no gatherings or social events connected with the Melaka state election that involved two former prime ministers.

The ministry said investigations by the state health department showed Perikatan Nasional chairman, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and Barisan Nasional advisory board chairman, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, were merely carrying out ‘walkabouts’.

The organisers of the two programmes, however, were slapped with compounds as those who attended, had failed to comply with physical distancing.

The organiser of the event involving Muhyiddin, was issued with a RM20,000 compound, while the organiser of the programme involving Najib, received a RM4,000 compound.

FLYING TO SARAWAK A PRICEY AFFAIR

Ticket prices for flights between Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak, starting today till Nov 8, had increased six-fold, compared with the same period in 2019.

Ticket prices for flights from the peninsula to Sabah were, however, lower between 30 and 63 per cent, from Nov 4 to Nov 10, compared to the same period in 2019.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, in Dewan Rakyat today, said the higher ticket prices to Sarawak were due to the implementation of flight capacity limits by the state government.

“This was done as part of the state government’s efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19,” Wee said.

“Flight tickets to Sarawak are expected to return to the average prices when the number of flights returns to normal,” he added.