The Hindu : Kerala News : Private post-mortem illegal: jurist

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Thursday, Mar 13, 2008
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Kerala

Private post-mortem illegal: jurist

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: The jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer and a group of social activists and writers have urged the government to shelve the move to allow private medical colleges to conduct post-mortem.

Education Minister M.A. Baby and Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy had reportedly agreed to consider amending the law to allow private post-mortems in order to make corpses available to medical students’ investigations.

In a memorandum, to be presented to the Chief Minister on Friday, the signers pointed out that post-mortem is a medico-legal procedure which is part of the police’s investigation, and cannot be entrusted to the private sector. They said private post-mortem was illegal and wanted the government to cancel the permission given to Amrita Hospital here to do post-mortem and to order an investigation of the post-mortem examinations done there already.

The memorandum is signed by M.K. Sanoo, K. Sachithanandan, Kareeppuzha Sreekuamr and others.

K. Gireeshkumar, convener of the Committee against the Death Penalty, which is campaigning against private post-mortem, said that only a civil surgeon or a doctor specifically appointed by the government is authorised to conduct a post-mortem by the Criminal Procedure Code. The committee would be holding conventions in major towns in the State against the move, Mr. Gireeshkumar said.

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