PETALING JAYA – Family members of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam were left grief-stricken after he was executed by hanging early this morning (Apr 27) for a drug offense back in 2009.
His brother Navin Kumar, 22, later confirmed the execution over the phone and said the funeral will be performed in Ipoh, reported Reuters.
Gone but not forgotten
Kristen Han, a Singaporean journalist and activist who started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for Nagaenthran’s family took to Twitter to share the last photo Nagaenthran took before his execution.
Before an execution, family members are allowed to buy clothes for the prisoner to wear at a photo shoot. The photos are given to the family shortly before or after execution.
Han also said that Navin had told him that the outfit was one of Nagaenthran’s favorites, which was a blue collared T-shirt, jeans, and white sneakers.
“Rest in peace, Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam,” she wrote at the end of the tweet.
Rest In Peace, Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam.
— Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 (@kixes) April 27, 2022
Before an execution, family members are allowed to buy clothes for the prisoner to wear at a photo shoot. The photos are given to the family shortly before, or after execution.
Navin says this was Nagen’s favourite outfit and photo. pic.twitter.com/wYXfqinIIn
Nagaenthran was held on death row for more than a decade after he was detained by Singaporean authorities for smuggling 42.72g of heroin and was subsequently convicted in 2010. He has since filed numerous appeals against his conviction but to no avail.
His case also attracted local and international attention, including British tycoon Richard Branson who pleaded with Singaporean President Halimah Yacob to spare Nagaenthran’s life, saying that executing him would leave a “horrible blotch” on its reputation.
