The body of
Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh, who died under suspicious circumstances in a Lahore jail last week, arrived in India on
Tuesday. His family members alleged that his body bore injury marks and foul
play led to his death, but doctors who conducted an autopsy denied this.
Alleging foul
play in his death, Kirpal's family members said the body bore injury and blood
marks.
Contrary to the
claims, the medical board which conducted the post-mortem examination here
after his body was brought back to India on Tuesday, said there were
no external or internal injury marks on the body.
Ashok Sharma,
head of the three-member medical board, however, told the media after the
post-mortem examination that the cause of death has not been established yet.
A family member holds up Kirpal Singh's photograph. AFP
The doctor said
some organs from his body were missing, as an autopsy has already been done (in
Pakistan).
"In the
post-mortem examination, it was found that there was no external or internal
injury on the body. Post-mortem of this body has already been done (in Pakistan)
because stitches were present on the body and the head.
"When we
opened the body, we found that some of the organs were missing because when
post-mortem is done, some organs are taken to test to find out whether there is
any disease or not," Sharma said.
"... rest of
the organs which were present, we took out portions of those organs and we sent
them for testing (to know) about diseases as well as poisoning. I can say with
100 percent accuracy that the wound marks which are inflicted during life, they
cannot be removed. The cause of death has not been established yet," the
doctor added.
After being
handed over to the Border Security Force at the Attari-Wagah joint check post,
Kirpal's body was immediately taken for post-mortem examination in Amritsar after which it
was taken to Gurdaspur district for cremation in his native village.
His family
members alleged that he was murdered either by fellow prisoners or prison
officials in Pakistan.
Close relatives
and residents from Kirpal Singh's village were present at Attari, 30 km from
here, when the body was brought back to India.
The body, in a
coffin, was carried by porters on the Indian side even as family members
showered flowers on the coffin.
Close family
members were allowed to see the body to identify Kirpal Singh's mortal remains.
Pakistani
authorities have attributed his death to heart attack, but his family has
alleged he was murdered in prison.
"He has been
murdered by the Pakistanis under a conspiracy. He was the sole witness to the
murder of Sarabjit Singh in the Lahore
prison. We want a thorough inquiry and post-mortem to know the truth of his
death," Kirpal's nephew told the media outside the hospital mortuary.
Kirpal Singh, the
family has maintained, had inadvertently crossed into Pakistan and
was arrested and charged with spying by Pakistani authorities.
His family had
met union home minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New
Delhi last week to seek immediate repatriation of his body to India.
The Punjab
government has offered to extend all help and relief to Kirpal's family on the
same lines as given to another Indian prisoner, Sarabjit Singh, who was
murdered in the same prison in Lahore
in April 2013.
Kirpal Singh, a
former serviceman, was lodged in Lahore's
Kot Lakhpat prison since 1992. He died on April 11.
Pakistani
authorities had labelled him a spy and got him convicted for terror attacks
inside Pakistan.
He was initially sentenced to death which was later converted to 20 years'
imprisonment.
No comments:
Post a Comment