Bengaluru: Was it hushed up? Autopsy of custody death victim raises a stink

Bengaluru: The autopsy of Mahendar (42), who died mysteriously in police custody in the Jeevan Bhima police station, where he was detained last month for questioning, has reportedly raised a storm in the medical, especially forensic fraternity of Bangalore Medical College & Research Institute (BMCRI).

Head of the Department, Forensic Science, Dr Bhimappa Havanur, has shot off a letter to the Dean and Director of BMCRI, Dr Devdass P.K., stating that the autopsy was conducted in a “hushed” manner, the description of the victim’s injuries were not recorded properly and that he as the HoD was not even consulted regarding the postmortem, which is in violation of the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission.

Dr Devdass has sought an explanation from the Medical Superintendent, Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital Dr Manjunath and the two doctors – Dr Satish, who is a forensic expert, and Dr. Siddique, pathologist, who conducted Mahendar’s autopsy – as to why rules were not followed in the case.

He has also marked a copy of the letter to Deputy Inspector General, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sonia Narang and to the NHRC for an impartial probe into the alleged irregularities in conducting the autopsy.

As per NHRC guidelines in case of custodial death, a committee has to be constituted by the HoD, Forensic Department of the medical college comprising three or more forensic experts to conduct the autopsy, which also should videograph the injuries in detail.

“Dr Bhimappa has alleged that he was not consulted in this case and the autopsy was conducted in great secrecy by a forensic expert and a pathologist from Bowring Hospital.”

“How can a pathologist conduct a post-mortem? After the post-mortem, forensic doctors send the organs of the deceased to a pathologist for analysis, but he cannot be a member of the post-mortem team. Why was Dr Bhimappa not consulted? None of the postgraduate students was asked to attend the post-mortem.

Why was it conducted in such secrecy? This has never happened in the 50-odd-year history of BMCRI,” charged the medical expert. Mahendar died in police custody on March 19 after he was detained to be questioned in a theft case in his employer Purohit’s house.

His post-mortem was conducted on March 23. His body, according to sources, bore serious injuries. “There were a lot of contusions on his buttocks, back of thighs, knees, feet, hands, elbows, face and neck,” the doctor said.