CHENNAI: Within two days after a single judge declined to order re-postmortem, a Division Bench of the Madras high court on Thursday ordered re-postmortem on the body of Saranya, found in a well in Villupuram district on January 23. She was among the three girl students of SVS Medical College of Yoga and Naturopathy, whose bodies were found in a well near the college. Suspecting foul play in his daughter’s death, Elumalai, father of Saranya, approached the high court to order re-postmortem. However, a single judge on February 9 dismissed his petition. Aggrieved, he filed the present appeal.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Satish K. Agnihotri and M. Venugopal said that on a careful consideration and taking note of the appellant’s plea that re-postmortem be conducted on his daughter’s body by a team of doctors and also considering the fact the appellant fairly ought to have subjective satisfaction with regard to the factum of death of his daughter, the court was of the view that no serious prejudice will be caused to any one by ordering re-postmortem.
“This court allows conduct of postmortem of appellant’s daughter by doctors attached to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. For this purpose, the body of the appellant’s daughter is to be brought to Chennai”. The re-postmortem should be conducted as per the instructions of the Dean of RGGGH, Chennai, in the presence of P. Sampathkumar, Head of Forensic Department and Vice Principal, Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute. A report should be submitted to the investigating agency within two days, the bench added. The Bench said, “If the body is not a condition to be brought for conducting postmortem in Chennai, the doctors of RGGGH, Chennai, shall go to the place where the deceased body was buried and conduct postmortem in the presence of Dr Sampathkumar".
