Post-mortem is a scientific examination conducted post-death in order to find out the cause of death as well as the traces of the perpetrator of the crime if it is homicidal. This examination gives a direction to investigative machinery to start its investigation to find and prosecute the accused and exonerate the innocent accused in the case. Additionally, it is complicated as well, depending upon various essential and important factors, which are vital for the admissibility of medical evidence in a criminal trial and this article focuses on these issues. These essentials factors include the performance of examination only by a registered autopsy surgeon or pathologist; who is an expert in the knowledge of diseases, the carrying out of a detailed and careful examination; on the crime scene and in the mortuary, preparation of the factual and objective medico-legal report; which is free from personal feelings and opinions of the medical expert.
For criminal proceedings, the post-mortem examination of a dead body is composed of two stages.PME encompasses the apparent condition of the dead body in reference to the surrounding of the crime scene and the effects of the environment. The autopsy consists of the examination of the body in the autopsy room for detailed examination. Apart from these two categories, PME can also be divided according to the purpose and approval of authority for conducting the examination including; for the training of the medical students,organ donation, and identification of an unknown dead body where no crime is involved, or where the crime occurred it determines the cause of death or traces any sign of the criminal. The purpose of both examinations is to find the cause of death and trace the perpetrator of the crime, if possible under the given circumstances of dead body, and to prosecute the offender and exonerate the innocents.
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