CHENNAI: A vacation bench of the Madras High Court has ordered re-post mortem on the seven bodies of victims of police firing on May 22 and 23 at Thoothukudi during the protest against Sterlite factory.
A bench of Justices S Baskaran and R M T Teekkaaraman gave the directive while passing further interim orders on a batch of PIL petitions from the family members of the victims, late on Wednesday evening.
The bench directed the government to form a team for post-mortem with three doctors, two doctors who had already been formulated by it and in addition to that, one doctor in the forensic department not below the rank of Reader from any one of the institutions– All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) (any branch)/ JIPMER, Puducherry/ Government Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala) – subject to their availability.
The three doctors shall form a team and conduct the re-post mortem on the seven bodies in the presence of the same Judicial Magistrate who was present at the time of the first post-mortem. The same team shall also conduct the post-mortem on the remaining six bodies in the presence of Judicial Magistrate nominated for that purpose by the concerned Chief Judicial Magistrate. Such a team, before autopsy, shall carry out an X-ray examination of the full body, region by region (front and lateral views). This should be done, as a rule, in all cases.
During post-mortem, a photograph of the victim without removing clothes shall be taken. Front and back views should be photographed. While removing clothes, care must be taken to detect loose bullets. Holes made due to bullets should be examined (with clean hands) and a record made in post-mortem notes. The clothes must not be allowed to fall on the floor. Blood-soaked clothes should be air-dried before packaging.
The clothes showing the bullet hole should preferably be put in a separate packet. The undressed body should then be photographed at different angles. A measuring tape extending from the sole to the top of head should be included in the photograph.
A close-up photograph (which includes a scale) of each wound should be taken without washing the wounds.
An X-ray of the body in front and side views is desirable to locate the bullet embedded in the body. At times, a bullet may be palpated beneath intact skins/swelling opposite the wound of entry.
The external wounds on body-entry/and exit, should be described in detail. The location of all firearm wounds should be described in relation to anatomical landmarks (nipples, navel). The height (or distance) of the wound should be measured and recorded from the sole of foot to determine the track of the bullet inside the body. Handling bullets with metal instruments should be avoided. Identification marks should be made on the base of the bullet from later identification.
After completion of the re-post mortem on the seven bodies and fresh one on the remaining six bodies as stated above, it is open to the respective parents or the relatives of the deceased to move the government seeking the body for the performance of last rites, if they desire so and on such application, the government should hand over the same.
Earlier, Advocate-General Vijay Narayan said that the State apprehended some law and order problem at the time of handing over of the dead bodies in the Government Hospital/mortuary. In view of the apprehension, the bench directed the officials to hand over the bodies only to the relatives of the deceased in the government hospital or mortuary and except the relatives, no other persons shall be permitted in the premises.
The official should ensure peaceful performance of the last rituals without any law and order problem in the respective area and file a status report of the number of persons who have sustained grievous injury/injuries, now undergoing treatment in the government hospital/private hospital/super-speciality hospital, as per the direction given by the earlier order on May 23.
The services of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) of Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Virudhunagar and Madurai, shall be utilised for the purpose of identification of the relatives and the DLSA should extend the fullest co-operation to the victim families in rendering the legal assistance. The entire postmortem should be video-graphed,the bench added.
Sensitive issue
The bench observed that these directions have been given taking into consideration the sensitivity of the issue involved and the law and order problem