The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday ordered re-post mortem of the body of a man from Kanniyakumari district, who is said to have died under suspicious circumstances in Saudi Arabia.
The court was hearing the petition filed by Ramani, wife of the deceased, George Ponnaiyan. The woman said she received a call on October 20, 2020, from a colleague of her husband informing her that her husband had died in an assault following a quarrel over salary.
The petitioner said she received a copy of the autopsy report issued by a Forensic Medicine Specialist in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, attributing the death to a contusion in the neck. However, no criminal action was initiated, she said.
She wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs in 2020. She sought a re-post mortem to ascertain the cause of the death. The body of her husband is now at Thiruvananthapuram airport.
Justice A.A. Nakkiran directed the petitioner to file a complaint before Kanniyakumari police who shall register a case under Section 174 CrPC (suspicious death). The Collector shall take steps to bring the body from the airport.
The body should be brought to Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital and a re-post mortem be conducted by a team of medical experts. It should be videographed and a copy handed over to the investigating officer, the judge said.
If any prima facie case was made out, the police could proceed in accordance with law. The body should be handed over to the petitioner after conducting the re-post mortem, the court said and disposed of the petition.
