Faizan Ahmed, 23, was found dead in the hostel room on October 14 last year
The body of an IIT-Kharagpur student, who was found dead in his hostel room in October, must be exhumed and a fresh autopsy should be conducted, the Calcutta High Court has ordered.
Faizan Ahmed, 23, was found dead in the hostel room on October 14 last year. The college authorities had said it was a case of suicide, but the family had alleged that he had been killed.
The high court yesterday said a second post-mortem is "vital and necessary for arriving at the truth".
"The body of the victim has been buried as per Muslim rites at Assam. Let the body of the victim Faizan Ahmed is ordered to be exhumed," Justice Rajasekhar Mantha said. "The investigating officer in the matter shall coordinate with the Assam Police and ensure that the body and/or remains are exhumed, brought to Kolkata by the State Police and fresh post mortem is conducted," he added.
The court noted that the student's family had consented to the exhumation of the body.
The court cited key findings noted by Sandip Bhattacharya, amicus curiae, in a report in the matter.
"Firstly, that there are two visible injury marks, otherwise medically called Haematoma, on the back of the head of the victim and the marks have been confirmed by Mr. Sandip Kumar Bhattacharya, Ld. Amicus Curae. The original post mortem report does not mention the same," the high court said.
It added that police had found a chemical called Emplura (sodium nitrate) from the scene of the crime. "It is submitted by Mr. Bhattacharya that sodium nitrate a yellowish powder is normally used to preserve meat," the court said.
"It is submitted that when a body decomposes, it is impossible that the fellow inmates of the hostel would not be able to detect it. There was mysteriously no smell from the body for 3 days. The presence of this chemical Emplura (Sodium Nitrate) opens up serious questions as regards the time of death and whether it may have been used to preserve the body after the death of the victim," Justice Mantha added.
The court said its order should not be seen as casting aspersions on the state police. "This order should not be construed as casting any aspersions on the State police since they have proceeded primarily on the post-mortem report given to them. It is expected that the aforesaid exercise is conducted and completed within a period of one month from date," it said.
The high court had earlier pulled up the director of IIT-Kharagpur, located in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, in the matter.
The court had, on December 1, reprimanded him for not acting on a ragging complaint, which was followed by the student's death.
The director had said he considers the students his own children, and stern action will be taken. "All my students, I will call them my sons and daughters. And I have told this to everyone. When it happened, I was shocked. The court has ordered stern action, and it will be taken. There are no lapses," Virendra Tewari had said.
Coming down heavily on the authorities' handling of the incident, the bench had said, "Is this how a director of a premier institute behaves?"