The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered a re-postmortem on Kottaipattinam fisherman R Raj Kiran, who was allegedly gunned down by the Sri Lankan Navy in October this year

Madurai: A petition filed by R Brundha, Kottaipattinam, Manamelkudi taluk, Pudukkottai district, wife of the deceased fisherman, came up for hearing before Justice GR Swaminathan on Tuesday, in which she stated that her husband, along with two fellow fishers from Kottaipattinam of Manamelkudi taluk, had ventured into sea on October 18.

With a disparity between the Lankan authorities’ version and the local fishermen’s version who said Raj Kiran had indeed received bullet injuries and had not drowned as was being claimed, the petitioner said, “It’s not correct to presume that an autopsy was conducted.” 

She had been told that her husband’s post mortem had been conducted at the Jaffna Medical College Hospital in Jaffna on October 22, but the autopsy certificate has not yet been issued when the coffin was handed over to the family for burial on October 23. She demanded a re-post mortem with videography.

The judge then ordered that a team of government doctors exhume the body and conduct a re-post mortem on the spot. A retired forensic expert would also be present and a report will be submitted. The case was later adjourned to November 24.