Postmortem reviews usually decide the trajectory of a felony case, significantly in hangings, strangulations, and custodial deaths. “Courts depend on these paperwork with immense belief,” senior Allahabad excessive courtroom lawyer SFA Naqvi advised TOI. “As soon as a physique is cremated, you'll be able to't return. If the primary report is fake, there's no second likelihood for justice.”
Police say the tipping level got here in June this 12 months, when pharmacist Madhur Arya on the Bahjoi group well being centre was arrested for allegedly taking Rs 50,000 to tweak the post-mortem report of a 19-year-old lady. Investigators later uncovered chats, scanned reviews, voice notes and cost data tied to a number of circumstances. One such case was Suman's loss of life, the place police had marked accidents throughout her physique, however the post-mortem cited solely hanging. The report was later discovered on Arya's confederate and ward boy Yash Sharma's telephone, prompting police to reopen the case.
Earlier, a case involving Neksi Devi and her husband Satvir Kumar highlighted how post-mortem findings might alter lives. The couple, dailywage labourers from Setua village, had been arrested in 2023 for the alleged homicide of Santveer Singh after an post-mortem cited strangulation. They maintained it was suicide. A later medical board termed the trigger “inconclusive,” however the couple had already spent virtually two years in jail. “In these years, we offered all the things,” Neksi advised TOI. “We've run up a debt of Rs 10 lakh. Even the roof over our head — we would lose that too.”
One other case exhibits the affect of lacking reviews. “In 2021, my father, Ramvir Singh, was discovered lifeless. After I reached the Sambhal district hospital, the postmortem had already been carried out. Throughout cremation, we noticed bruises throughout the disfigured face,” mentioned Satyavir Singh. “He didn't die in his sleep. They hanged him. It was written on his pores and skin.” When he requested for the report, it had vanished. Although negligence costs had been filed towards three docs and a sweeper, and an FIR was lodged towards three suspects, the accused proceed to roam free. “I've finished all the things I can,” Satyavir mentioned. “However how do you struggle one thing that's been made to vanish?”
Police officers admit the dimensions of the issue. “The contradiction between scene proof and post-mortem findings was too stark to disregard,” Sambhal ASP Anukriti Sharma advised TOI. “That case made us query what number of different reviews had been quietly altered.” To counter tampering, delicate postmortems are actually being reviewed by the State Medico-Authorized Council. Sharma cited the case of Manesh Singh, discovered hanging in 2024. The preliminary report steered “antemortem strangulation” and homicide costs adopted, however the Council later concluded suicide after reviewing images and video. Sambhal has change into the primary district in UP to add digital copies of panchnamas, sufferer images and post-mortem reviews on to the Crime and Legal Monitoring Community and Programs (CCTNS). “We try to plug the system from all sides,” mentioned SP (Sambhal) Krishna Kant Bishnoi. “Stories, pictures, accountability — all the things needs to be traceable now.” He added: “Ward boys and drivers can't do that alone. Medical doctors are complicit. We have now proof. We've issued warnings. If anybody is discovered doing this once more, they are going to be booked underneath the Gangster Act.”
DM Rajinder Pensiya mentioned: “The drive is actual. We've already shut down 31 unlawful well being amenities. Extra motion will comply with.”
(With inputs from TOI)
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