When Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) laid out the catalogue of injuries sustained by Noorizwan Zulkefly at a media conference last week, the organisation described his case as the worst custodial abuse case since A Kugan.

The comparison was chilling. It summoned the memory of a young man who entered police custody alive but never emerged from it.

Who was Kugan? And why, nearly two decades later, does his name continue to haunt Malaysia’s record of custodial deaths?

Hailing from Puchong, Kugan was a 22-year-old tow-truck operator when he was arrested in January 2009 to assist in investigations into a syndicate suspected of stealing luxury vehicles.