Custodial death: Counsel challenges post-mortem validity, urges appointment of independent forensic panel

In the alleged custodial death case of Scheduled Caste youth Akash Delison, the petitioner’s counsel, Henri Tiphagne, presented the observation of the victim’s post-mortem findings to the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday.

The observation primarily highlighted post-mortem procedure’s deviance from the Tamil Nadu Medical Code/ National Human Rights Commission’s guidelines. “While dissecting, the usual incisions of ‘I’ or ‘Y’ shape were not made while starting the post-mortem examination. Another method of starting the post-mortem by dissecting the head first was also not followed,” it noted.