PETALING JAYA: The father of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) student, Vinosiny R. Sivakumar, has filed a lawsuit after she died of electrocution in one of the dormitories in 2022.
The NST reports that the student’s father, R. Sivakumar Rajoo, 55, is seeking RM3.05 million in damages from the university as the sole plaintiff in the case filed on Feb 28 at the Alor Setar High Court.
Sivakumar filed the suit through Messrs. M. Manoharan & Co for his daughter’s death — who was 21 at the time.
Special damages of RM50,000 and general aggravated damages of RM1 million each at an interest rate of five per cent per annum from the judgement date until the realisation date together with any relief deemed fit to the court; have been sought after Sivakumar, according to the report.
Sivakumar was quoted as saying in his suit that the university and his daughter had a “special relationship” with her as the student and seeing that, he asserted that the institution had a “duty of care” to ensure her safety when using the dormitory room and its facilities.
“The defendant, as the owner of the said dormitory, owed a statutory duty to all lawful occupants of its dormitories under the provisions of the Electricity Supply Act 1990 and the Electricity Regulations of 1994 to maintain the electrical installations of the dormitory.
“In breach of its duty in negligence and/or its statutory duty, the defendant failed to ensure that Vinosiny was safe from electrocution and/or failed to maintain the electrical installations (of the dormitory) in proper order, thus causing Vinosiny to be electrocuted, resulting in her death,“ the statement read.
According to the NST, Sivakumar stated that Vinosiny was discovered lifeless on a dormitory floor on May 21 2022, as mentioned in the statement of claim.
The post-mortem, which was conducted in the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, concluded that the young woman’s cause of death was electrocution, as quoted.
