T

he family of M. Isa Abdullah, the North Sumatran migrant worker who died in Malaysia last week, has expressed fear that the man’s internal organs have been stolen after they found stitches and other signs of surgery all over his body.

Family spokesman O.K. Alamsyah said his family would seek legal help to investigate their suspicions.

“We believe Isa’s internal organs have been illegally removed,” said Alamsyah, who is Isa’s cousin.

He said that the family’s belief that Isa’s internal organs were stolen was based on the signs of surgery and stitches found all over Isa’s body, from his neck down to below his navel as well as on his arms.

He said that the family thought the traces were unusual because they were initially informed that Isa died by hanging himself.

“If he hung himself, why are there all these stitches? This arouses our suspicions,” Alamsyah told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Alamsyah also said that Isa’s body was buried in his home subdistrict of Berombang in Labuhan Batu regency, North Sumatra, on Nov. 27.

The local police and regent who attended the funeral, according to Alamsyah, also saw the stitches and signs of surgery on Isa’s body.

“But the family did not know what to do. They are rural people,” he said.

He added that the family had decided to exhume Isa for an autopsy, citing that no autopsy had been performed.

“We are now ready to dig up the grave and have his body undergo an autopsy to see if our suspicions
are right,” Alamsyah said, adding that the family would ask for legal advice from the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in Medan, including how to take care of Isa’s year of unpaid salary.

Separately, LBH Medan deputy director Muslim Muis said his institution was ready to provide any legal aid needed by the family of the dead migrant worker and would soon investigate the case.

M. Isa Abdullah, 23, worked in Malaysia through a migrant worker recruitment company (PJTKI) in Medan, North Sumatra. He had a two year contract at a durian plantation but was reported to have hung himself on Nov. 25, 2011, one year after being employed at the plantation.