Calcutta High Court, in a specially convened hearing on Sunday, has ordered a second post mortem of the body of the school girl who was alleged raped and murdered at Joynagar in South 24-Parganas. Justice Tirthankar Ghosh of Calcutta High Court, hearing a petition filed by the girl’s parents, directed that the second post-mortem be conducted at AIIMS Hospital in Kalyani on Monday in the presence of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) of Baruipur court. Justice Ghosh also questioned why the POCSO Act had not been applied despite the allegation of sexual assault.
Justice Ghosh was hearing the matter on an emergency basis following a direction of Calcutta High Court’s Chief Justice T. S. Sivagnanam. During the hearing, the victim’s lawyer demanded a CBI investigation in the incident. On Saturday, the area of Mahishmari village in Joynagar became tense following the discovery of the body of the 9-year-old girl, who had gone missing the previous day, with allegations of sexual assault being raised. Complications arose around the post-mortem of the victim as the family refused to allow it at any state hospital for the sake of impartiality. They approached the High Court on Sunday, requesting a post-mortem at a central hospital.
Justice Ghosh accepted their plea and ordered that the post-mortem be conducted by AIIMS Kalyani doctors. In case AIIMS Kalyani does not have the requisite infrastructure for carrying out the autopsy, Justice Ghosh directed that it should be conducted at the state-run College of Medicine and JNM Hospital, but by any forensic medicine expert from AIIMS Kalyani. The judge further instructed that the body be taken to the hospital by 11:45 a.m. on Monday. The post-mortem will be conducted in the presence of the ACJM of Baruipur Court. Besides, directing video recording of the entire autopsy process, Justice Ghosh said that the parents of the victims should be allowed to be present outside the autopsy room, and if they desire, they will have to be provided a copy of the video recording of the autopsy. During the hearing, the police faced tough questions. Justice Ghosh asked why the police had not filed a case under the POCSO Act, given that the initial report indicated signs of sexual assault.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the police’s role, the court ordered the case to be transferred to a POCSO court. The victim’s lawyer argued that the family has no confidence in the state police’s investigation and demanded a CBI inquiry. The body of the schoolgirl is currently kept at Kantapukur morgue, where the first postmortem was performed. One person has been arrested in connection with the murder.