The Madras High Court on Thursday directed authorities to protect the bodies of six of the 20 persons gunned down at Seshachalam hills in Andhra Pradesh, after the wife of one of the victims moved the court seeking a fresh autopsy on her husband’s body.
When the petition came up for hearing before Justice M. Sathyanarayanan, counsel for the petitioner K. Balu sought a fresh autopsy on the bodies of six persons from Vettagiripalayam in Tiruvannamalai district.
Chemicals on body
He submitted that there were chemicals on the body and doubted whether there was a genuine encounter.
The judge pointed out that there was no FIR relating to this case in Tamil Nadu, and said the court could not direct any post-mortem. Further, the incident did not take place within the Madras High Court’s jurisdiction.
Advocate General A.L. Somayaji submitted that the government did not have any objection and would oblige if the court ordered a fresh autopsy.
He said he would give more details of the case by Friday.
Since the bodies have to be kept safely till then, the judge directed authorities to move them to the Government Hospital in Tiruvannamalai until further orders and posted the case on Friday.
The petitioner, Muniammal, wife of Sasikumar of Vettagiripalayam, wanted the court to direct authorities to conduct a fresh autopsy on her husband’s body, and further direct the authorities to pay adequate compensation to protect her family’s livelihood.
She wanted the post-mortem examination to be videographed.
Says it cannot order fresh autopsy as there is no FIR relating to the case in TN
