SHAH ALAM: It has taken about 10 months, many guarantees of her safety and a burly bodyguard, but finally, celebrity Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand has returned to the witness stand in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest.

When Pornthip reprised her role yesterday as a Selangor state government expert witness in the coroner’s inquest into Teoh’s death, she maintained her earlier opinion that Teoh had not committed suicide.

“I maintain my opinion about it being a pre-fall injury and that he could have been unconscious during the fall, but I will not go into a percentage now that I have seen the body,” said Pornthip, who was an observer during Teoh’s second autopsy last year.

She was asked by the lawyer for the Selangor government, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, if she was still convinced that Teoh’s case was “20% suicide and 80% homicide” as she had testified last year.

“The percentage was an initial assessment to convince the court to exhume the body for a second post-mortem.

“I am sure it was not a suicide,” Pornthip added.

Teoh, an aide to a Selangor politician, died after a fall from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office here last year. His body was exhumed on Nov 21 for a second autopsy that was conducted by Dr Shahidan Md Noor and Dr Rohayu Adenan.

MACC appointed British pathologist Dr Peter Vanezis and Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim to observe the autopsy while Pornthip was appointed by the Selangor state government.

However, during questioning by Malik yesterday, Pornthip agreed that Teoh’s anal injuries might be due to the fall.

She had earlier testified that Teoh’s anal injuries could have been inflicted before the fall.

“At the first post-mortem, the doctor did not open the skin of the area near the sacrum and posterior thighs,” she said.

But after asking Shahidan to open up the areas, Pornthip decided that the anal injuries were caused by the fall.

On the contusions on Teoh’s neck, Pornthip said that the haemorrhage could not be due to manual strangulation.

“Its size (injury) was bigger than the size of manual strangulation and it needs more force than a man can exert on the neck. But I ruled out that the cause was a result of hitting something during the fall as it is a protected area,” she said.

“I have reviewed 34-35 cases caused by falls from a height and there were no such injuries in the autopsies done at my institute,” Pornthip explained.

She said that the neck injury was a pre-fall injury although she ruled out manual strangulation.

“Do you have a theory on what could have caused it?” asked Malik.

“I have no experience but it (injury) could be due to a blunt object,” said Pornthip.

During the three-hour cross examination, Pornthip’s credibility and ability were tested by MACC counsel Datuk Abdul Razak Musa.

Abdul Razak: You said you graduated from the Mahidol University of Thailand. But as you may know, the university is not recognised by the Malaysian Medical Association.

Pornthip: I do not know.

Abdul Razak: You were not allowed to conduct the second post-mortem because you were not qualified in terms of our laws.

Pornthip: I work for the rights of the dead, not for the Selangor state government or anyone. My only objective is to help the dead.

Abdul Razak said Pornthip had made several errors such as how the anal injury was sustained and suggested that she was only here to attack the MACC.

Abdul Razak: You informed the court that only one leg got fractured. I put it to you that the ankle injury was because of the fall. It is not a pre-fall injury.

Pornthip: I never said it is a pre-fall injury.

Abdul Razak: And now I show you another mistake about the injury on the skull. You say it could be because of the fall, the skull injury.

Pornthip: You have to understand the words transferred force, I said it was not due to transferred force.

Abdul Razak: You keep on changing the goalposts. In October, you said Teoh was alive at the time of landing. We have witnesses testifying the deceased was alive at the time of the fall.

Pornthip: I agree that he was alive, I never said he died. The issue is whether he was conscious or not.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, August 19, 2010.