SHAH ALAM, Malaysia - A second forensic pathologist has testified that Teoh Beng Hock may have committed suicide based on the absence of defensive wounds or signs that he was restrained.

Dr Prashant Naresh Samberkar, who is attached to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, also said evidence indicated that the political aide was conscious when he landed on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam last month.

On why he believed Teoh had deliberately thrown himself off the building, Dr Prashant gave several reasons, including "no sign of asphyxiation, for example, pressure on the neck which can cause scratch or pressure abrasions on the neck."

"There is no evidence of tongue bite or any injury to the tongue which could occur in case of a struggle," he said.

Teoh, the political secretary to Selangor executive councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah, had gone to the MACC office at the 14th floor of Plaza Masalam here on July 15 to be questioned over alleged irregular disbursement of state funds.

He was found dead at the building's fifth floor service corridor the following day.

On marks and the damage on Teoh's right shoe that counsel holding a watching brief for Teoh's family and the Selangor government had suggested were drag marks, Dr Prashant said the marks were consistent with a fall from a high place.

To a question by government-appointed counsel Tan Hock Chuan on injuries found in and around Teoh's anus that counsel Gobind Singh Deo and the state's counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar had suggested had been inflicted upon him, he said: "These injuries were sustained as a result of the impact at the time of landing."

He also dismissed suggestions by Gobind and Malik Imtiaz on Monday that Teoh may have been clubbed on the head before his plunge.

He also said Teoh had probably squatted on the window sill before the plunge as marks on both the shoes co-relate with the width of the window sill.

On whether a person would freeze up in fear if he were being held in that position on the window sill, Dr Prashant said yes, adding that there would also be not much of a struggle.

Gobind: Do you agree that someone could have held him there in that position?

Dr Prashant: It is possible.

On Dr Prashant's testimony that there were "disturbances" in the area around the window, like smudges and finger drag marks, Gobind asked the pathologist if these could be due to some form of resistance.

Dr Prashant: Yes.

Gobind: Shows that the person standing there had resisted falling?

Dr Prashant: Possible, sir.

The pathologist also gave reasons why he believed Teoh was alive at the time of impact, citing the amount of soft tissue injury, bruising and haemorrhaging.

Dr Prashant said the injury to the skull, especially the collection of blood clots in the skull at the top of the head, also indicated that Teoh had been alive when he hit the floor.

The inquest before coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas continues today.

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THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK