Second autopsy reveals Indian national's vital organs missing from his body.
A pal of gloom descended on Sarabjit Singh’s native village of Bhikhiwind in Punjab as he was cremated with full state honours on Friday. The second autopsy report by then had revealed that his vital organs such as the heart, stomach, gall bladder and two kidneys were missing from his body.
A contingent of Punjab police reversed arms and fired thrice in the air as a mark of respect to the 49-year-old who strayed into Pakistan in 1990 and then spent 23 years in jail there.
His sister Dalbir Kaur lit the pyre as thousands of people joined in to bid him a tearful adieu.
Among the dignitaries present were Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal and minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur.
As Kaur went around the coffin to pour water from an earthen pot, Sarabjit’s wife Sukhpreet and daughters Swapandeep and Poonam sobbed uncontrollably. “I have lost everything,” a shattered Kaur said.
Sarabjit breathed his last on Thursday, six days after being assaulted by prisoners inside the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. The second autopsy conducted on his body in Patti found that his skull bones were brutally fractured with the intention of causing death.
“The main motive was to kill the person,” said Dr Gurmanjit Rai, head of the forensic department of the Government Medical College in Amritsar. Dr Rai said Sarabjit’s vitals organs such as the stomach, gall bladder, heart and two kidneys were missing from his body when the second post-mortem was conducted. “His ribs were fractured, there were injuries on his back, top of the head, shoulders, lips and ears,” he said.
The first post-mortem was conducted at the Lahore hospital after Sarabjit’s death. Doctors in India regretted that the Pakistani doctors did not send the post-mortem report and instead attached the death certificate to his body.
The Punjab government has announced a three-day state mourning. Shops and other establishments, including educational institutions, remained closed on Friday. Badal said Punjab would give government jobs to both his daughters. —With agency inputs
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