A young Malaysian man who had the head of his penis cut off during his circumcision 13 years ago only received RM123,556 in damages as compared to the RM3.1 million after winning his lawsuit against the Malaysian Government and 4 other parties.
According to a report by Harian Metro, a 3-judge panel from the Court of Appeal, chaired by Datuk Ravintharan Paramaguru, made the decision unanimously after finding that the amount of damages previously awarded by the High Court was too much.
“The general damages of RM2 million obtained by the respondent was too high and not supported by any documentation. Therefore, the general damages of RM2 million is reduced to RM100,000 while the special damages is reduced from RM108,356 to RM23,556.”
“The court has also set aside the severe and exemplary damages amounting to RM1 million awarded by the High Court because the 2 damages were not stated in the pleadings and there was no basis to allow the 2 damages but the cost of RM100,000 awarded by the High Court is upheld,” Datuk Ravintharan said.
Apart from the government, the 4 other parties named in the suit are a medical officer and the director of the Kuala Lipis Hospital in Pahang, and a specialist doctor and the director of the Selayang Hospital in Selangor.
The suit was filed with the belief that the prescribed procedure was not carried out, resulting in the entire head of the penis being cut off.
This image is for illustration purposes only.
As a result of the permanent changes to his body, the victim’s mother claimed that her son, who was 10 years old at the time of the incident, had become very quiet and no longer liked to make friends with his peers.
The High Court decision to award the young Malaysian a total of RM3.1 million in damages is said to have been due to the medical staff’s delay in treating the plaintiff’s injuries, which led to there being no hope in saving his private parts.
The 5 defendants then appealed against the High Court’s decision, leading to the Court of Appeal finding the sum to be too high.
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