There are no tissue damages on any organs of Ramkumar’s body that is likely if he had bitten a live electrical wire, claim experts.
It was on September 18, 2016 that P Ramkumar, the man accused of hacking 24-year-old Chennai techie, Swathi at the Nungambakkam Railway station, died in jail. While police claimed that Ramkumar died after he bit an electrical wire while in Puzhal central jail, a medical report has cast aspersions on the police’s claim, 5 years after his death.
A detailed report by Mahalingam Ponnusamy of News18 Tamil Nadu states that a document submitted by Histopathology experts to the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on August 18 says there is no tissue damage on Ramkumar’s brain or the heart, which is likely if he had bitten a live electrical wire.
The document reviewed by TNM states that on October 7, 2016 two doctors of Government Royapettah Hospital, Venu Anand and Andal Palani had conducted tests on tissues of his organs like brain, heart, lip, lungs, liver, kidneys tongue and spleen, and had found that none of the organs had sustained any damages that are likely due to electric shock.
The document which chronicles the deposition of various doctors in the case further added that when P Ramaraj, Ramkumar’s father’s counsel questioned the doctors if it is possible to sustain tissue injuries due to electric shock, the doctors responded that normally tissues do get damaged. “However, no damage was found in Ramkumar’s organs and tissues,” noted the doctors.
This is however not the only expert finding that has questioned the police’s claim. Dr Sayed Abdul Khader who was reportedly the first to examine Ramkumar’s body, during the cross examination noted that there were no electrical injuries in the body. According to the document, Khader examined Ramkumar’s body on September 18, 2016 at 5:45 PM, and was accompanied by prison doctor Naveen Kumar and assistant jailor.
Khader said, “The injuries in the body of Ramkumar did not seem to have been caused due to electric shock. Also, the body seemed to be in postmortem rigidity (the third stage of death and one that happens 12 hours after the death of a person).”
“In my earlier statement, I falsely noted that there were electrical damages in the body. However, I did not thoroughly observe the external damages on the body and sent it to the mortuary,” said Khader in the document submitted to SHRC.
Ramkumar, a resident of Meenakshipuram village in Tenkasi in Tirunelveli was arrested by Chennai police on July 2, 2016 in connection with a murder of Chennai-based techie Swathi at Nugumbakkam Railway station on June 24, 2016 morning. Swathi who worked at Infosys was waiting to board the train to work.
Subsequently, on September 18, 2016 when Ramkumar was lodged at Puzhal prison, he died by suicide after biting a live electrical wire, according to the police.
However, Ramkumar’s father Paramasivam moved the Madras High Court alleging that his son was murdered by the police.
Watch News 18 Tamil report on Ramkumar’s death
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Source: The News Minute