TAIPING, MALAYSIA: A delirious man died after he banged his head repeatedly on the floor at a relative's house while police tried to restrain him in Assam Kumbang.

Police identified the deceased as unemployed T. Sivakumar, 26, who graduated in electrical engineering last year.

Taiping OCPD Asst Comm Raja Musa Raja Razak said policemen rushed to the house at about 2.30am after receiving a report that Sivakumar had bitten the hand and cheek of his 55-year-old mother.

"Sivakumar put up a struggle when police tried to restrain him and banged his head on the floor before passing out. He was pronounced dead when the ambulance arrived," ACP Raja Musa told a press conference yesterday.

He said a post-mortem on the deceased showed the cause of death as agitated delirium.

"It meant that there was a total body system shut down and he did not know what he was doing," said ACP Raja Musa.

He did not rule out that the deceased was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or under extreme stress.

ACP Raja Musa said that on Sunday, Sivakumar cut his hands after he broke a glass window pane at the family's rented home in Kamunting.

Sivakumar's father, taxi driver T. Tevarajoo, 65, said his son struck the pane for no apparent reason and continued to sit in a pool of blood.

Sivakumar's mother then took him to the relative's house in Taman Pegawai Kanan Kerajaan, Assam Kumbang.