Hyderabad vet rape and murder: AIIMS forms team for second autopsy of 4 accused, to be done Monday

AIIMS has formed a team of three forensic doctors to conduct the second autopsy on the bodies of four men accused of gang-rape and murder of a woman veterinarian near Hyderabad, who were killed in an alleged encounter on December 6.

The team will depart for Telangana Sunday evening and conduct the second autopsy at the mortuary of state-run Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad on Monday at 9am, a source said.

The medical board is led by Dr Sudhir Gupta, head of forensic at AIIMS, and has Dr Adarsh Kumar and Dr Abhishek Yadav as members. Dr Varun Chandra will assist the team in the post-mortem examination, an AIIMS communique to Telangana special chief secretary stated.

The Telangana High Court had directed authorities to conduct a second postmortem on the bodies of the four accused. The bodies have been kept at Gandhi Hospital as per an earlier order of the high court, after pleas were filed alleging extra-judicial killing of the men and claiming it was a fake encounter.

A division bench directed that the autopsy be conducted before December 23 and the report be submitted to the Registrar General of the high court.

After the postmortem, the bodies can be handed over to the families of the four men. The doctors were advised to express an independent view on the basis of the evidence collected by them.

The four accused were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping and killing the woman veterinarian and burning her body. The case triggered widespread protests across the country.

On December 6, they were gunned down by police at Chattanpalli when they were taken to the site of the offence for reconstruction of the crime scene for investigation. The "encounter" has come under legal scrutiny.

The charred remains of the 25-year-old veterinarian were found on November 28.

The first postmortem was conducted on December 6, the day the four men were killed, in a state-run hospital in Mahabubnagar from where the bodies were subsequently shifted to Gandhi Hospital.

On Saturday, the division bench directed the Telangana government to make all arrangements for the air travel of the medical team from AIIMS.

The Supreme Court has appointed a three-member inquiry commission headed by a former apex court judge to inquire into the circumstances leading to the encounter.

The Cyberabad police has said its personnel resorted to "retaliatory" firing when two of the accused opened fire at them after snatching their weapons.