Thrissur: Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Thrissur has issued summons to Dr Sherly Vasu, former forensic department head at Thrissur Medical College Hospital, on a petition filed by Dr N. K. Unmesh. Dr Unmesh had courted controversy during the trial of Soumya murder case in the fast track court here by stating that it was not Dr Vasu but he who conducted the postmortem. An inquiry later concluded that issues between doctors at the department had led to the junior forensic surgeon making such a statement and the government suspended him from service.
But, after Supreme Court quashed the death sentence of the convict Govindachamy recently, the state government ordered an inquiry again. Dr Unmesh filed the defamation case after the fast-track court handed down a death penalty to the convict. He cited an interview Dr Vasu given to a Malayalam newspaper in which she allegedly made derogatory comments against him.
Dr Vasu, now retired, has been asked to appear before the court on October 7 in person or through her lawyer. There is also a possibility of she moving the HC for a stay order, P. S. Easwaran, the counsel of Dr Unmesh, said. She had reiterated her stand in the case that the injuries inflicted by Govindachamy inside the moving train and on the track after throwing the victim out led to her death.
