'We were told not to probe suicide or murder'

Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh: A doctor on Wednesday blamed the police for "misinterpreting" the first autopsy of a teenage girl found dead in a police compound here, saying the report by him and two others mentioned "injuries on the victim's neck and leg".

"We are not at fault. It was a mistake on the part of the police as they failed to comprehend our post-mortem report," AK Agarwal, one of the three doctors on the panel that conducted the first autopsy on the girl and have since been suspended, told reporters here.

"Police misinterpreted the findings of the report that had no flaw. We were not told to probe the case with a suicide or murder angle. Our post-mortem report mentioned the injuries on the victim's neck and leg," said Dr Agarwal.

Dr Agarwal, along with two other doctors - SP Singh and AK Sharma - had performed the first autopsy on the teenage girl. The body of the 14-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree on Friday night inside the Nighasan police station premises in Lakhimpur-Kheri district.

Referring to the post-mortem report prepared by Dr Agarwal and his two colleagues, police had claimed that the girl committed suicide. However, after much public hue and cry that police were trying to stop the truth from coming out, a second autopsy was conducted and revealed that she was murdered.

Advertisement

Following the findings of the second autopsy, Dr Agrawal and his two colleagues were suspended.

The crime branch of the crime investigation department is investigating the murder case. Eleven policemen have already been suspended.

Advertisement

Ramchandra, a junior level employee at the Nighasan police station, has been arrested while sub-inspector BK Singh and two constables - Uma Shankar and Shiv Shankar - have been booked for tampering with evidence.