Even as the Madras High Court ordered the preservation of Dalit youth Ilavarasan’s body for a possible second postmortem, an autopsy conducted on Friday on his body at the Government Dharmapuri Medical College and Hospital revealed that he died of head injuries. However, the report does not throw light on whether the death was a case of suicide or murder.
The report, a copy of which was sourced by Express, said: “The deceased would appear to have died of head injury. The death would have occurred 12 to 24 hours prior to autopsy.” Besides, his “stomach had 30 ml of brownish yellow thick fluid with no specific odour. Mucosa was pale.”
Ilavarasan, whose love marriage with Vanniyar girl Divya in October 2012 had turned turbulent, was found dead near a railway track behind the Dharmapuri Government Arts College on Thursday. While the Government Railway Police had registered a case of “suspicious death”, his relatives, including his father, had alleged that he was murdered.
The autopsy report may not be final as shortly after it was conducted on Friday, a bench of justices V Dhanapalan and C T Selvam directed authorities to retain Ilavarasan’s body at the hospital until Tuesday when a petition seeking a postmortem at a different hospital will be taken up for hearing.