Police ask forensic dept if Phogat’s injuries were fatal

Panaji: Anjuna police have sought the opinion of GMC’s forensic department on whether the injuries found on the body of Haryana BJP functionary Sonali Phogat — which were listed in the postmortem report — could have led to her death.
Phogat’s cause of death was reserved, pending reports of chemical analysis, histopathology and serology. Dr Mandar Kantak and Dr Sunil Chimbolkar, who conducted the autopsy, stated that “multiple blunt force injuries over the body (Phogat)” were noted, and that the manner of her death was to be determined by an investigating officer.
“The injuries were simple and multiple, but they were individually or collectively not fatal,” said a source in the department.
Police registered Phogat’s death as murder after the autopsy on Friday, and claimed that Phogat’s two companions gave an “obnoxious substance” — narcotics — to her through drink at a party at the Anjuna shack Curlies.
The source said that although ideally a chemical analysis report should reveal if her drink was spiked causing her to overdose, much will depend on how early the sample drawn was sent to a forensic laboratory for testing. “Our responsibility ends with handing over the samples to the PI investigating the case. We give sample/samples no sooner than the postmortem examination is done,” he said.
As time passes, the strength of a chemical ingested or consumed diminishes. Phogat’s autopsy was done on the third day after her death on August 23. It was delayed as her family raised objections, demanding the case, registered as an unnatural death, be registered as a murder.
“A chemical analysis report will return positive only if 50% of the substance was there in the body when the postmortem examination was done, as every drug has a half-life. The drug will not be detected if it was below 50%,” he said.
The chemical analysis, he said, will show no presence of poison or a drug, but alcohol may be detected. “Alcohol normally starts breaking down after three weeks,” he said.
The histopathology report, he said, will indicate if she had any disease like heart disease. A day after Phogat’s death, chief minister Pramod Sawant had stated that preliminary evidence indicated that she had died of a heart attack.
A serological report will reveal evidence of sexual intercourse. The source said that “consent is invalid” in case the subject was in an intoxicated state when it happened.