The Madhya Pradesh High Court has recently ordered a re-postmortem of the body of Shiv Prasad Sahu, a man who was found dead under suspicious circumstances in September this year.
His family members, who suspect foul play and believe he may have been murdered, had approached the court seeking a re-postmortem to uncover the truth.
In an order passed on Friday, the court directed the Balaghat police to exhume the body of the deceased, which had been buried in Loharidih village in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district, and perform a re-postmortem.
The court’s division bench, comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kait and Justice Vivek Jain, issued clear instructions for the procedure- “The concerned Inquiry Officer of the case shall visit the burial place and take out the dead body in the presence of the appellants. Thereafter, re-postmortem will be done, and the report to this effect shall be placed on the record.”
The petition for the re-postmortem was filed by Laleshwari Sahu, the deceased’s minor daughter, and his mother-in-law Ramoutin Bai, who had initially approached a single judge bench with the same request. However, their petition was dismissed on October 4, 2024.
The family members, represented by their counsel Shashank Shekhar, argue that Shiv Prasad Sahu’s death was not a suicide, as initially believed, but rather a murder. The family’s suspicions are based on several factors that they believe merit further investigation.
Sahu, a resident of Loharidih village in Chhattisgarh, was found hanging in a forest area near Bijatola, Railwahi in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh on September 15. After the initial postmortem, his body was handed over to his family by the Balaghat police.
However, his family members remained unconvinced by the official conclusion and sought a re-postmortem to clarify the circumstances surrounding his death.
The Balaghat police have since submitted a status report to the court, revealing that an inquiry had been conducted, and an FIR was registered against several individuals, including Dinesh Kumar Sahu, Roman Sahu, Rakhilal Hirwane, and Takchand Patel, for offences under various sections of the BNS Act.
According to the report, the police found prima facie evidence of the involvement of these individuals in the case, though the investigation is still ongoing.
The court’s directive for a re-postmortem provides a ray of hope to the family, who believe that a thorough investigation could uncover critical evidence that might not have been initially identified.
The re-postmortem will be conducted in the presence of the appellants, ensuring that the process is transparent and that the truth can be properly established.
The investigation by the Balaghat police is continuing, and the court has asked for the re-postmortem report to be placed on the record once completed.
