The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered that the body of a student of the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur be exhumed and a fresh autopsy be conducted, The Telegraph reported.
The student, Faizan Ahmed, was found dead in his hostel room on October 14. A postmortem examination conducted at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital had concluded that Ahmed died by suicide. However, his family has disputed the claim and alleged foul play.
“The police and the IIT authorities have been trying to project the death as a case of suicide,” Ahmed’s mother told The Telegraph. “We have been all along saying that he was ragged and murdered by senior students. It seems the court, too, is not accepting what the IIT authorities and the police are saying.”
On March 29, forensic medicine expert Ajay Gupta, who had been asked by the court to carry out an investigation into the matter, told the court that he was not satisfied with the autopsy report.
Gupta said that the findings mentioned in the report and a video of the examination were not enough to arrive at a final conclusion about the cause and the manner of death. Ahmed’s parents had moved the court alleging murder in October.
On Tuesday, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha told Gupta to conduct a second autopsy on Ahmed’s body in the presence of the doctors who carried out the earlier examination.
“The postmortem may be conducted at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital,” Mantha said. “The aforesaid exercise is vital and necessary for arriving at the truth behind the death of Faizan Ahmed.”
The court passed the order after noting that Ahmed’s family had consented to his body being exhumed, NDTV reported.
Mantha also took note of findings submitted by Sandip Bhattacharya, who has been appointed as the amicus curiae (friend of court) in the case.
“Firstly, that there are two visible injury marks, otherwise medically called haematoma, on the back of the head of the victim and the marks have been confirmed by Mr Sandip Kumar Bhattacharya, Ld Amicus Curiae,” he said. “The original postmortem report does not mention the same.”
Haematoma is a pool of clotted blood found on the body and is caused by surgery or injury.
Bhattacharya’s report also noted that the police had detected a chemical called emplura, which contains sodium nitrate, at the place where Ahmed’s body was found. “It is submitted by Mr Bhattacharya that sodium nitrate a yellowish powder is normally used to preserve meat,” the court said.
The judge said that the presence of the chemical raised questions as to whether it was used to preserve the student’s body.
“It is submitted that when a body decomposes, it is impossible that the fellow inmates of the hostel would not be able to detect it,” he said. “There was mysteriously no smell from the body for 3 days.”
The court, however, said that his order should not be construed as having cast aspersions on the police, as they acted on the basis of the postmortem report given to them. It directed authorities to exhume Ahmed’s body and conduct the second autopsy in a month.
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