Tribal woman’s death: District Police Chief calls for action against government doctor for revealing post-mortem details

District Police Chief T.K. Vishnu Pradeep submitted a complaint before the Idukki District Medical Officer against Peerumade Taluk Hospital surgeon after the latter allegedly made public the post-mortem details of a woman who was killed on June 13.

The Peerumade police had registered a case over the death of 41-year-old Seetha, which was initially suspected to be wild elephant attack-death. The post-mortem examination of the woman was held at Peerumade Taluk Hospital. “The post-mortem examination was carried out by Adarsh Radhakrishnan, surgeon at the hospital. After the post-mortem, he did not share the findings with the probe official, Thrudeep Chandran, Circle Inspector attached to the Peruvanthanam police station and Sub Inspector Aravind Kumar,” according to the complaint.

‘Hampered probe’

However, it is alleged that the doctor disclosed the post-mortem findings to the media before informing the investigation team. Following this, the media reported that the woman had been murdered and that her husband was in police custody even before any official confirmation from the police. This, in turn, hampered the investigation process, said the complaint

“The doctor shared the details of the post-mortem with Forest department officials and the media even before informing the police. This is a serious violation of duty. Action should be taken against the surgeon at the department-level after a high-level probe,” said the complaint.

Also, a complaint had earlier been registered against the doctor for allegedly misbehaving with a woman. The Special Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police had also submitted a report against his alleged misbehaviour with police officers and patients at the hospital.

Full report

Meanwhile, the doctor handed over the full post-mortem report with the police recently. The case, initially suspected to be a wild elephant attack, was later alleged to be a murder.

The post-mortem report points towards injuries on the body, according to sources. However, the police have not officially confirmed the reason for the death.

Meanwhile, the Forest department said they have not yet received a copy of the post-mortem report.

The police had formed a three-member special team to investigate the case on June 20. Also, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission on June 17 had directed the District Police Chief to conduct a fair probe and submit a report within four weeks.