AIIMS Team Performs Re-Postmortem on 4 Accused in Vet Rape Case

The police made elaborate security arrangements near the hospital.

The four youths were killed on the outskirts of Hyderabad in what the police claimed was an encounter.

(Photo: PTI)

The second autopsy on the four slain accused in the brutal rape and murder of a woman veterinarian by a team of forensic experts of AIIMS, Delhi, is underway on 23 December at a hospital here, a top official said.

A separate cabin had been arranged at Gandhi Hospital for the team from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for the autopsy and the entire process is being videographed, Superintendent of the state-run facility Dr P Shravan Kumar said.

The Telangana High Court had, on 21 December, ordered the re-postmortem of the four, who were killed in an alleged encounter with police on 6 December.

The first postmortem was conducted on 6 December at a government hospital in Mahabubnagar from where the bodies were subsequently shifted to Gandhi Hospital.

Before starting the second autopsy, the AIIMS team interacted with the kin of the deceased men and recorded their statements, Kumar said.

“The team first wanted to talk to the kin of the deceased. So, accordingly, we arranged an interaction with them. The team recorded their statements. The relatives informed them that they would take the bodies once the process is completed.”

Dr P Shravan Kumar

On its request, the team was provided a handicam (portable video camera) and a computer, Kumar added.

The police have made elaborate security arrangements near the hospital.

The bodies of the four accused have been preserved in Gandhi Hospital as per the earlier orders of the High Court after some PILs were filed alleging that the encounter was fake and amounted to extra-judicial killing.

The four accused were arrested on 29 November for allegedly raping and killing the woman veterinarian and burning her body.

The case triggered widespread protests across the country.

Police shot the four dead in an ‘encounter’ after the latter allegedly attacked them at Chattanpalli where they were taken for reconstruction of the crime scene for investigation.