Dr Shailesh Mohite, who was part of the Sheena Bora probe, speaks to us on the intricacies of autopsies, and the need to let forensic science guide the SSR investigation
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; August 28, 2020)

In his long career in forensic medicine, Dr Shailesh Mohite has been part of some sensational cases, including the Sheena Bora murder and the autopsy of terrorist Abu Ismail. We reached out to Dr Mohite — Professor and the Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at Nair Hospital, Mumbai — to demystify the autopsy process and shed some light on the controversy surrounding Sushant Singh Rajput’s autopsy. Excerpts from our conversation:

How important is an autopsy report in a case like that of Sushant Singh Rajput?
According to our Indian judicial system, an autopsy is of utmost importance. It tells us various things — from identification, to the cause, manner of death, the evidence that needs to be preserved, time since death — all queries are answered at the end of the autopsy. So, it forms a crucial part of evidence.

What factors do medical professionals keep in mind while carrying out an autopsy and drawing conclusions?
There are a lot of individual variations that could occur depending on the circumstances. So, while conducting the autopsy, noting down findings or interpreting the findings, we need to keep a lot of things in mind. For instance — the sex of the person, the build, age, the environment in which the body was found, whether it’s summer or winter, temperature, was the body wearing clothes or not, was it found in water or on dry ground and so on.

Can the same autopsy report be interpreted differently by two medical professionals?
Yes, there could be slight differences of opinion. While giving an opinion, one should always say that the opinions are based on the above mentioned observations. So, if it goes to another expert, he or she knows the points that have been taken into account while coming to those conclusions. In case they have anything to add, they can always mention the facts taken into consideration apart from the ones stated by the previous doctor. Documents like the ADR (accidental death report), the panchnama, and statements of relatives also have to be taken into account and noted in the final report so that there is no ambiguity.

Dr Sudhir Gupta from AIIMS is said to have found discrepancies in Sushant’s autopsy report. It’s also in the news that the time of death was not mentioned in the report. What does this essentially mean?
It’s difficult for me to speak on Dr Sudhir’s comment about contradictions, since he has not listed those out, though I am sure he has considered all the documents. As for the time, I can show you copies of post-mortem reports. There is no specific column for time since death. But it states the deductions of the medical officer about the time since death from the stomach contents. Time since death is derived through various factors like rigor mortis, postmortem lividity, coldness or warmth of the body, decomposition changes if any. The post mortem report also mentions the stomach contents. The circumstantial evidence provided by the police are taken into consideration before arriving at an idea of the time since death. If anyone claims that time since death is not mentioned, it is like saying that I have maintained a book of accounts, mentioning the expenses but have not totalled it at the end. But from the individual entries, I can, at any given time, deduce it.

Following Sushant’s death, a few pictures were leaked and circulated. What are the things that one needs to look at as circumstantial evidence?
One needs to be very sure that these are authentic photos, not morphed ones, before commenting. I would suggest that experts, before commenting, see to it that those are authenticated by the investigating officer who will put his signature and forward it. Only those can be taken as authentic and can be permitted in court as evidence.

Some reports had questioned the need to conduct Sushant’s autopsy at night. In a situation like this, how long would it have taken the doctors to inspect his body, and is there a provision to conduct an autopsy at night?
In Mumbai, there is a specific circular from the Government of Maharashtra which states that post mortem should be done in 24 hours, except for cases of negligence and cases of murder/ homicide where the police officer has mentioned it in the papers.

Many reports have questioned the need to take his body to Dr. RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital when another ambulance from a hospital closer to his residence was present. What are the parameters of choosing a hospital?
There is no choice here. By government orders, the 90-plus police stations in the city have been divided — police stations are attached to the post-mortem centres, and we have about 10 of them: St George, GT, JJ Hospital, Nair, KEM, Sion, Rajawadi, Cooper Hospital, Siddharth Hospital and Bhagwati. For example, five police stations are attached to Nair Hospital and bodies from their jurisdictions will be brought here.

You are suggesting that taking Sushant’s body to Cooper Hospital was essentially a procedural decision?
Yes. Bandra police station has Cooper Hospital assigned to them.

Leaked pictures of Sushant’s body led to an outcry on social media. The ligature marks and other signs on his body have been questioned by people, some of whom are medical practitioners and criminal lawyers. By looking at a picture and a ligature mark on one’s neck, can you clearly tell how the death occurred?
As I said, no one should opine without an authenticated photograph. From one photo, one cannot say anything. The photos have to be taken from all sides. People need to understand that there is a difference between a forensic medicine expert (medical graduates), who has conducted autopsies and a forensic scientist (non-medical persons) who has never conducted a single autopsy but has analysed documents, conducted chemical analyses of the viscera and studied the biological evidences. Criminal lawyers have never conducted an autopsy — it is only a medical doctor, who is a forensic expert with experience in autopsies, who can opine on post mortem and injuries.

How many medical professionals are usually required for a post mortem and what are their ideal qualifications? And when you form a team of doctors for an autopsy, are they called in by appointment or are they chosen from those present in the hospital?
The rules are that any registered medical practitioner, which means anyone with an MBBS qualification, can conduct an autopsy. But ideally, a forensic medicine expert, or at times a pathologist is best suited to conduct autopsies. A forensic medicine expert is ideal in cases that show violence. If there is negligence or disease, it is ideal to bring in a pathologist. If the hospital also houses a medical college running postgraduate courses, then apart from a team of experts, there could be postgraduate trainee doctors, too.

Every medical college has a forensic medicine department. For routine purposes, there is a duty list and every doctor is assigned duties. Even one doctor can do an autopsy. But, when you require assistance, the head of the department can ask other doctors to assist. All of them present for the autopsy will sign on the report.

Sources in Kalina forensic lab tell mid-day that 80 per cent of the visceral samples collected have been used for analysis in the original probe, leaving only 20 per cent for the central agency
Vinod Kumar Menon (MID-DAY; August 24, 2020)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which has just taken up the Sushant Singh Rajput case, has its task cut out for it with almost 80 per cent of the viscera (samples of organs) already having been utilised for analysis by the state's Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Kalina. The CBI may need to conduct its own analysis of the viscera samples to rule out intoxication or poisoning that can point to foul play.

The FSL Kalina had submitted a negative report after its analysis.

According to forensic sources, police had submitted four containers containing the viscera and blood sample after Sushant's autopsy.

"Nearly 80 per cent of the organ samples have been used for analysis. The blood was analysed for DNA, which is preserved. Nothing suspicious was found. The remaining samples have been sealed and preserved at FSL, Kalina. They can be used for a second analysis in case of disputes," said a forensic expert.

But is that much viscera enough for an analysis? "The CBI may want to do specific reanalyses, for which the sample may be sufficient. However, repeat tests after that might be a concern."

Highly placed sources investigating the case said, "The FSL scientist from Kalina who had visited the crime scene for analysis, found a cigarette butt and medicine strip, which were also analysed as non-biological samples along with a glass, but nothing incriminating was found."

"There is no scope for further crime scene analysis as it has not been preserved by local police, so subsequent missing of vital clues cannot be ruled out. With Sushant's body cremated, the CBI will have to rely on the post-mortem notes and the video footage of the autopsy. This may not be sufficient to ascertain direct foul play as no nail clippings, or finger swab were preserved," the source said.

Legal View
Senior criminal lawyer Dinesh Tiwari said, "Taking on the case after two months since the incident only makes CBI's situation grimmer. Crime can be tried in court on the basis of direct and circumstantial evidence which need to be corroborated with scientific evidence. It seems the CBI will have a big challenge of extracting forensic evidence."

Tiwari added, "The CBI will have to depend either on circumstantial evidence which may not lead to a foolproof case or puncture holes into the shoddy investigation by Mumbai police by submitting an inconclusive report in court."

FSL Scientist's Statement
CBI officials have also contacted FSL, Kalina to record the statement of a forensic scientist attached to its Physics department. Sources said that the analyst would be able to tell if any fibres from the cloth used for hanging got stuck on the neck and if the cloth was strong enough to bear Sushant's weight. Sources said that the FSL has asked the CBI to reach out through official channels.

Meanwhile, the Medico Legal Association of Maharashtra refuted reports that five forensic surgeons who conducted the analysis were questioned by CBI. Dr Shailesh Mohite, the Association's president, said, "The reports are untrue. The forensic surgeons approached us and were concerned about being trolled online. We would appreciate factual reporting in such sensitive cases," Mohite said.

Professor Dr Rajesh Dhere, the Association's secretary, "If any submission is made by forensic surgeons attached to Cooper with regard to Sushant's autopsy, we will look into it."

A CBI officer of the rank of sub-inspector did visit Cooper hospital on Saturday and submitted a letter requesting the CCTV footage of the casualty ward, the Cooper Post Mortem Centre and relevant documents.

An insider said, "Cooper hospital's dean may be able to furnish all details except the CCTV footage of the post mortem centre as it comes under Police Surgeon Dr S M Patil."

Dr Patil was unavailable for comment due to personal reasons. Dr Pinakin Gujjar, dean of HBT Medical College and Dr R N Cooper hospital, said, "I cannot comment at this stage as a CBI probe is on."

Expert Speak
Solicitor Stuti Galiya said, "In any criminal investigation, a crime scene provides actual, direct and physical evidence. This evidence virtually determines the fate of the case. In the two months since the incident, it is likely that most of the direct and physical evidence may be lost or tampered with. The court would have to rely heavily on circumstantial evidence. This would leave a lot of room for interpretations, arguments and questions on authenticity and genuineness of the evidence," said Galiya.

"It is possible that either an innocent person will get dragged in the case or the real culprit will get acquitted," Galiya concluded.


CBI officers at Bandra police station. Pic/Sameer Markande

Their phones and Cooper hospital’s landline ring constantly; screenshots of FB account and LinkedIn profile posted online
Alka Dhupkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 19, 2020)

Five doctors of Cooper hospital who had signed off on actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s post-mortem examination report have been doxxed and are being relentlessly harassed.

The targeted malicious campaign—which put out the doctors’ names with their phone numbers with a copy of the autopsy report took off online three days ago with the allegation that they had taken a bribe to declare that the actor had died by suicide. Within hours, not only was this claim widely shared along with a screenshot of the Facebook account of one of the doctors and the LinkedIn profile of another, but many people also began making abusive calls to them. Some even tracked down the doctors’ alternative contact numbers by pretending to be patients in distress, as well as flooded the hospital’s landline with calls. Many of these call recordings have been posted online, prompting other harassers to do the same.

From demanding that the doctors’ licences be cancelled and be booked for murder to calling for the hospital’s closure, the harassers haven’t spared anyone. They have even published the contact numbers and work profiles of doctors with similar names.

Dr Pinakin Gujjar, dean of Cooper hospital, confirmed that the five doctors are being abused online as well as on calls, but refused to divulge more details, saying he, too, has been subjected to similar harassment.

A colleague of the five doctors said the trolls stepped up the attack after an unverified claim began doing the rounds that the doctors had gone into hiding.

Hospital authorities said the doctors are petrified and reluctant to file a police complaint, fearing that they could be subjected to further harassment. The medical fraternity has offered to provide them with legal guidance should they be willing to file a complaint with the police or any other authority. At a meeting with an office-bearer of the Medico-Legal Association of Maharashtra on Monday, one of the targeted doctors also expressed concern for the safety of his family member, who is also featured on the Facebook profile photograph being circulated. “He refused to file a complaint even on Tuesday. We understand their reservation; these are young doctors,” said a senior forensic science expert.

Condemning the attacks, Dr Shailesh Mohite, president of the Medico-legal Association of Maharashtra, said those who are objecting to the manner in which the post-mortem examination was conducted should seek legal recourse, instead of running a witch-hunt.

Another doctor from Cooper hospital said questioning the credentials of the forensic experts and mounting a hate campaign against them is a tactic to intimidate the medical fraternity. “We hope the Mumbai police will take note of this.”

In its post-mortem examination report, conducted hours after Rajput’s body was found in his Bandra apartment on June 14, Cooper hospital had said the actor had died of “asphyxia due to hanging”. Rajput’s family has questioned why the time of death, which is usually mentioned in an autopsy report, is missing from it. Last month, the Forensic Science Laboratory in Kalina ruled out homicide, and said that there was no trace of any harmful or toxic chemicals and/or drugs in Rajput’s viscera samples.