New Delhi: After the death of comedian-actor Raju Srivastav on Wednesday, the autopsy of the late entertainer was conducted using novel technology - marking the first such instance in India - at Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The technique saw no surgical appliances being used, with backups from CT scans and X-rays of the body being the only sources of information for doctors. Speaking about the procedure, Dr. Sudhir Gupta, Head of the AIIMS Forensic Department, said many are unwilling to hand over the bodies of their loved ones for post-mortem.
"As post-mortem cannot be avoided due to it being a legal necessity, we evaluate internal findings using CT scan and X-ray backups. Then, a team of doctors sit and analyze whether there are enough findings for us to submit before the law," Gupta explained.
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He noted, however, that the application of procedure depended on the case at hand. "Since he (Srivastav) was already admitted here for 42 days, there are enough medical documents on him, and several doctors have already checked him. We, therefore, decided not to do surgery. We have handed over the body without the use of a scalpel," Gupta added.
"Usual post mortems take several hours based on the case at hand. Here, however, we can take as long as required and can come back to it. The body, meanwhile, is handed back to the relatives, so the relieving process is relatively short," he observed. Gupta also said that new technology was developed by ICMR and AIIMS in a collaborative effort, and costs about Rs 7 crores.
