Probe may deter surgeons from performing autopsy

As the fight between Mumbai forensic experts and the civil surgeon whose autopsy report said the three Bhandara girls had been raped ensues, the state-recognised Civil Surgeon Cadre Association feels that the probe into the autopsy might discourage doctors from performing post-mortems in medico-legal cases in the future.

Out of fear, they say, civil surgeons will have to increasingly rely on forensic experts for a post-mortem, which is a time-consuming task.

“It is not possible to call in a forensic expert for post-mortems, because we don’t have enough manpower across the state. Also, a majority of places in the state district hospitals don’t have forensic experts, and any available doctor conducts the post-mortem,” said a senior doctor.

The autopsy report submitted by the Bhandara civil surgeon Dr Rushi Chahande stated that the girls had been raped before being drowned. However, questions were raised about the accuracy of the report after a team of forensic experts examined the bodies and concluded that there was no evidence of rape.

Defending the surgeon, Dr AB Nanadapurkar, general secretary of the Civil Surgeon Cadre Association, said, “Whatever our doctors see on the body, they mention in the report, for example injury marks on differetn body parts. It is up to the police to decide whether it is a case of rape or not.”

He added, “With this probe, doctors who perform their duty will be discouraged from performing autopsies in medico-legal cases. They will call in forensic experts every time. This way, it will take a long time to conduct the procedure.”

@Santosh_Andhale