SEBERANG JAYA: The late Karpal Singh’s former driver C Selvam went bald today to offer prayers at a Hindu temple here for his former boss and his colleague Michael Cornelius, both of whom died in a road accident almost a year ago.
Selvam, who was at the wheel of Karpal’s Toyota Alphard that night, said he felt abandoned by Karpal’s family since the accident, but it would not deter him from showing his love of Karpal and Michael.
Karpal, 74, the former DAP national chairman, and his personal aide Michael, 39, died instantly when their car collided with a lorry near Kampar on the North-South Expressway on April 17 last year.
Karpal’s Indonesian maid, Selfiana Rengga, 26, who was also in the vehicle was seriously injured but has since recovered.
Selvam suffered minor injuries, as did Karpal’s third son Ramkarpal.
Selvam, 28, faces trial later this month on a charge of dangerous and reckless driving. The charge carries a maximum jail term of 10 years or RM20,000 fine or both, upon conviction.
With the first anniversary of the accident falling next Friday, Selvam went bald today at 10am to offer his penance to Lord Muruga Perumaan, his favourite Hindu deity, at the Sri Bala Murugan Alayam.
He said he had dreamt about Karpal last week, and was told not to worry about his court case. “In my dream, Karpal told me that he would take care of me on the case,” he said.
Selvam, an Indian national from Vellore, Tamil Nadu, said he missed Karpal, Michael and his family back in India.
After being charged, Selvam said he was left to languish in Taiping Prison for more than a month as he could not post bail of RM5,000.
He said he did not know anyone in Malaysia except his employer Karpal and his family, and had never imagined he would be abandoned and left to rot in a foreign jail.
During his remand, he prayed daily for the Karpal’s family to bail him out but help never came, he said, adding that no one from Karpal’s family, nor representatives of the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, came to visit him.
He said help came from an unexpected person, Parti Cinta Malaysia vice-president Huan Cheng Guan, who personally posted bail for Selvam, and had taken Selvam under his care since then, pending the court case.
The trial, in Kampar, begins on April 23. Selvam is represented by lawyer Baljit Singh, chairman of the Gerakan legal and human rights national bureau.
Selvam hoped he would be freed and could return to his parents and his two younger siblings.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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