Badaun rape-murder: CBI to exhume bodies of Badaun victims

New Delhi, July 19: With the level of river Ganga rising, the CBI constituted medical board to look into the alleged rape and murder of two girls in UP's

district will exhume the bodies of the victims today for fresh autopsy.

CBI has earlier planned to carry out the process tomorrow but in the wake of rising levels of Ganga threatening to inundate the graves, the medical board has decided to do so today. CBI sources said the agency has made all the arrangements to conduct fresh autopsy near the graves.

Unless there is a compelling reason to do post-mortem elsewhere, the medical board will undertake the process on the spot. The sources said the board of three-forensic experts has recommended that fresh autopsy was needed before forming any opinion which will necessitate exhumation of bodies.

Following the recommendation, CBI has taken permission from appropriate authority, to exhume the bodies and proceed with fresh postmortem.

CBI sources said the agency has made all the arrangements to conduct autopsy

The sources said there was no need to take consent of the family members and only permission required is from the local authorities. Concerns were raised by locals that level of Ganga river, which flows adjacent to the grave of the minors, is rising because of heavy rains in Uttarakhand and might inundate it.

The need for fresh autopsy was felt after the postmortem report of the local doctor was only suggestive of rape without conclusively proving it. Highly-placed sources in the agency said the first post-mortem was conducted at night, which is usually against laid down procedures. Post-mortem is not conducted after sunset except in emergency cases.

The postmortem was conducted by a lady doctor who had apparently no prior experience of it, said the sources. The two cousins, aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a tree in the village in Ushait area the next day.

The incident had sparked a nationwide outrage.

PTI