Madras HC Orders Post-Mortem On Ariyalur Farmer's Body

The Madras High Court on Saturday directed the Deans of the Government Medical College and Hospitals in Madurai, Tiruchirapalli and Thanjavur to form a panel of doctors to conduct post-mortem on the body of a farmer belonging to Ariyalur district, who died under suspicious circumstances. 

Making an urgent sitting at his residence in R A Puram, Justice G Chandrasekaran gave a direction to this effect, while passing interim orders on a writ petition from one G Karthikeyan, a close relative of Sembulingam, the deceased farmer, today. 

According to the petitioner, the police personnel attached to Vikkiramangalam police station descended on his maternal uncle Sembulingam's house on November 25 this year, in connection with a case registered under the SC/ST Act against his son-in-law Arun Kumar. 

As Arun Kumar was not available, the personnel abused Sembulingam, his daughter and wife with filthy language and severely attacked them. They were admitted in a government hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Trichy, where Sembulingam died on December 8.

Alleging the local police was biased and would not conduct proper inquiry, Karthikeyan preferred the present petition to  transfer the probe into the case to the CBI. His interim prayer is to order a post-mortem on his uncle's body by a team of doctors of their choice.

The judge directed the Deans of the three government hospitals to constitute a team of experts in the field. They should conduct the post-mortem by Sunday (December 11) afternoon. The post-mortem should be videographed and the close relatives of Sembulingam should accept the body after the PM and hold the last rites without making any hue and cry. 

As regards the main prayer of CBI probe, the judge ordered notice to the authorities concerned and adjourned the matter by a week.

-With PTI Input