Rape-Murder Case: Odisha Doctor Under Scanner For 11-Month Delay In Autopsy Report

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Crime Branch (CB) has requested the Health Department to initiate departmental action against a former medical officer of Mayurbhanj district for submitting autopsy findings in a rape and murder case almost a year after the crime.

The case pertains to death of a woman in Badampahar area, whose body was sent to Rairangpur sub-divisional hospital on October 3,2022. The doctor submitted the postmortem report on September 20, 2023, because of which inquiry into the case could not progress for almost one year, the CB letter dated September 23, 2024, said.

“The postmortem was conducted by the doctor on October 3, 2022. But the report was received by investigating officer on September 20, 2023, after an abnormal delay of almost one year. The report clearly indicated that it was a case of rape with murder. The doctor should have promptly sent the postmortem report for further follow-up action,” it said.

The report suggested that the victim had suffered antemortem injuries and postmortem drowning. The death was attributed to multiple head injuries leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage and neurogenic shock which were antemortem in nature, the letter signed by IG Shefeen Ahamed stated.

It further said that the injuries to the victim’s genitalia and labia minora suggested that she was sexually assaulted and thus it was a clear case of rape and murder.

In the meantime, vital clues may have disappeared hampering the investigation of such a heinous case, the CB letter added while seeking necessary departmental action against the erring medical officer.