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Scarlett autopsies 'absolutely illegal'
Swedish forensic experts have said the two autopsies carried out in India on the body of British girl Scarlett Keeling, 15, who was found dead on a beach in Goa, were "absolutely illegal".
- IANS
- Published: 00:15 April 17, 2008
Stockholm: Swedish forensic experts have said the two autopsies carried out in India on the body of British girl Scarlett Keeling, 15, who was found dead on a beach in Goa, were "absolutely illegal".
They also expressed concern that her organs, found missing during a third autopsy in Britain, may have been illegally traded.
Scarlett's bruised and semi-naked body was found on the sea shore of Goa's Anjuna beach just before dawn on February 18.
Swedish autopsy expert Per Arne Schedin said: "It is not just incredible, but absolutely illegal, the way they [Indian officials] have proceeded in their 'modus operandi' of obducing the poor girl's body."
"During my service I have carried out more than a 100,000 autopsies in Sweden and other countries. The standard procedure is, from the most initial incision, to speak into a recorder every detail resorted to and most minutely observed.
"Where electronic recording is not available, an assistant takes notes during the process, dictated by the obducent. This protocol is the vital part of the eventual investigation and its accuracy cannot be exaggerated," said Schedin, a 35-year veteran at Sweden's world-renowned Karolinska Hospital's Ratts Forensiska Avdelningen (judicial forensic department).
"What the Indian pathologists claim is most confounding. With present forensic advances, easily available in India, that they should find it so difficult to determine the results with greater accuracy is simply incredible.
Post-mortem procedure
The Daily Mail reported on Monday that Scarlett's mother, who had taken her body back to Britain, said some internal organs were missing. The missing organs - said to include kidneys, uterus and stomach - were reported after British forensic scientists conducted a third autopsy on the body.
Authorities in Goa said that taking parts of the body for tests was a part of the post-mortem procedure, the paper reported.
A colleague of Schedin, who did not wish to be identified, said: "In the face of grave reports of illegal organ transactions in some countries, we are concerned that highly coveted organs of young, healthy people who have succumbed to tragedies may command tempting lures."
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