This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 25, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: The body of murdered deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Kevin Morais is still in the mortuary as his family members have refused to endorse the release of his remains, a close relative said yesterday.

The relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Morais’s immediate family members had refused to sign the endorsement letter to release the body.

“They are not willing to sign the endorsement letter ... just leave it at that,” he told reporters at the Nirvana Memorial Centre in Sungai Besi here yesterday.

“The family has yet to decide on when to claim the body, but it will be publicised.”

He declined to comment further on the matter.

It is not known whether the family has requested a second post-mortem or what their next move will be.

Morais’s  younger brother Richard, who was seen at the memorial centre, refused to speak to the media about the family’s plans.

However, Bernama reported Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim as saying that the police need a little more time for a DNA test to be completed before releasing the body to the family.

He said the body had been identified from the clothing, but “we have to adhere to procedures”, he told reporters after the Aidiladha sacrificial slaughter of animals and prayers at the Bukit Aman Mosque here.

Noor Rashid was asked to comment on the delay by the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in releasing the body of Morais, deputy chief of the appellate and trial division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, to the family.

No relatives of Morais were at the hospital, but at the Nirvana Memorial Centre in Sungai Besi, Richard declined to talk to reporters.

Reporters were also prevented from entering the special room where people pay their last respects to the deceased. They were asked to wait at the lobby.

A Malaysian Insider report said that even friends of the late DPP were questioned by the centre’s security before they were allowed to enter the elevator.

Since 10am yesterday morning, many relatives and friends had been arriving at the centre for the memorial service, which will continue until tomorrow. Richard and another sibling David arrived separately at 11.30am and 12 noon respectively.

The body of Morais, 55, was found stuffed in a cement-filled oil drum in Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, near here last Wednesday.

He was reportedly missing on Sept 4 while driving to his office in Putrajaya from his condominium in Menara Duta here. — The Malaysian Insider/Bernama