Row over 20-hour 'autopsy delay' in Keonjhar hospital

KEONJHAR: The postmortem of a 14-year-old orphan tribal girl, who died of TB, triggered a row with allegations that in the absence of a lady doctor at Anandpur sub-divisional hospital (SDH), the autopsy got delayed by more than 20 hours.
Since the death of the girl's parents, she and her sister had been staying at Balashram. Police said had been suffering from TB for the past few years. On Tuesday, she was admitted to Anandpur SDH when she started vomiting blood. She died in the hospital.
Given that a lady doctor can only perform the postmortem of a minor girl under the Pocso act, the hospital authorities ordered that the autopsy should be done by a lady doctor. Since there was no lady doctor at the hospital, the body kept lying in the hospital since Tuesday, claimed a source. However, police claimed the orphanage authorities allegedly delayed informing the police about the girl's death, for which the postmortem was delayed.
On the other hand, Abhinas Parida, the IIC of Ramchandrapur PS, said, "As per primary report, the girl died of TB. She was under prolonged treatment. On Tuesday, she was taken to Anandapur SDH after she vomited blood, and died during treatment. After receiving a complaint on Wednesday at about 10 am from the orphanage, we informed the sub-collector and requested them to deploy the magistrate. Later, the inquest of the dead body was done in the presence of a magistrate as per norms as she was a minor girl. Later, the body was sent for postmortem. The body was handed over to her family members."