The identity of a dead man’s decomposed body, which was found last year by fishermen in the waters off Tuas remains unknown, despite DNA analysis and police investigations.
The coroner said that she was “constrained to deliver an open verdict” because of the lack of clarity surrounding his death, although she did say that there was no basis to suggest foul play.
A open verdict is given when there is a level of uncertainty of circumstances relating to the death and how the death occurred, and when the coroner is unable to give a specific verdict on the legal cause of death.
The 1.62m tall deceased, who weighed 42kg, was labelled “unknown” in the coroner’s findings.
How the body was discovered
The deceased was found by fishermen on a boat with four other people win july last year when they smelled a strong odour of decomposition from the sea, which was about 300m away from the Tuas South Boulevard Yard.
One of the fisherman shone his torchlight intot he sea and saw a decomposed body which was floating face-up about 80metres away from his boat.
He then called the police, telling them that he found a dead body in the water, asking them to send in the police coast guard.
The dead body was then recovered by the PCG and the man was declared dead at 5.14am on 11 July 2020.
The police’s forensics management branch were unable to retrieve any fingerprints fromt he body due to severe decomposition.
Although they did find his cause of death to be consistent with drowning, his body was decomposed with loss of skin and soft tissues of his head and neck towards the extremities of his upper and lower limbs.
His body was also infested with maggots.
A report was sent to Interpol Kuala Lumpur, but came back without a match in their database.
Another similar report as also sent to Interpol Jakarta, which has yet to respond.
The Indonesian embassy said in September 2020 that they did not have any information of hte possible identity of the body.
The coroner said:
“Based on the evidence led, there is no basis to suspect foul play, as the identity of the decomposed body remains unknown and the circumstances of the death despite extensive police investigations remain unclear, I am constrained to deliver an open verdict.”
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