Delhi govt hospitals to conduct autopsies even after sunset

In cases of deaths by murder, suicide, rape or foul play, the government said that the bodies would be examined only during the day. The Centre had allowed autopsies to be conducted at night in November last year. The health ministry, while issuing the order last year, said that it was doing away with British-era law that prohibited doctors from conducting postmortem examinations at night

The Delhi government on Tuesday issued an order to all government hospitals allowing them to conduct autopsies after sunset.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said all postmortem examinations will be videographed to avoid any discrepancy and confusion. (PTI)

In a statement, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, “All postmortem examinations will be videographed to avoid any discrepancy and confusion. Autopsies in cases related to organ donation will be prioritised. The Arvind Kejriwal government has enabled a landmark reform. Relatives of deceased people will not have to wait for hours for the bodies. ”

In cases of deaths by murder, suicide, rape or foul play, the government said that the bodies would be examined only during the day. “Earlier the bodies were kept in the mortuary at night. Bereaved relatives had to wait the whole night to claim and bury them. This made their pain worse. But now the bodies coming to the postmortem examination room at night will be attended to immediately. To avoid any doubt or confusion, all the autopsies will be videographed throughout the night and it will be preserved for future reference and legal purposes,” Sisodia said.

To be sure, the Centre had allowed autopsies to be conducted at night in November last year. The health ministry, while issuing the order last year, said that it was doing away with British-era law that prohibited doctors from conducting postmortem examinations at night. Police experts said that the law prohibiting doctors from examining bodies at night was enacted during the British era because the government then believed that doctors could not examine them properly because of poor lighting at mortuaries.