The Madras High Court on Wednesday appointed two government doctors to conduct autopsy on the body of a government employee who had reportedly committed suicide in police custody at Chunambedu police station in Kancheepuram district on May 2 after he was picked for an enquiry.
Justices V. Parthiban and P.D. Audikesavalu appointed forensic experts P. Parasakthi from Madras Medical College and R. Selvakumar from Kilpauk Medical College to conduct post-mortem. The order was passed on a petition filed S. Vennila, 40, whose husband C. Sitrarasu had died in police custody.
The judges ordered that the post-mortem should be conducted on Friday in order to dispel the petitioner’s fear that the local doctors in Kancheepuram district might not conduct the autopsy fairly. They, however, rejected her counsel’s plea to order conduct of post-mortem in the presence of a doctor of her choice.
In her affidavit, the petitioner had stated that her husband was picked up by the police on May 1 for inquiry in connection with a criminal case booked under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons) of the Indian Penal Code, and a day later, she was informed that he had committed suicide by strangulating his neck with his undergarments.
Claiming that the police version was unbelievable, she insisted upon a thorough probe into the incident and a free and fair investigation.
