Sarabjit Singh's vital organs were missing
Sarabjit Singh's vital organs were missing
The body of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who died in a Pakistan hospital on May 2, was sent to India without its heart, kidneys and stomach, a postmortem revealed on Friday, according to a daily.
The first autopsy on the body was conducted at Pakistan's Jinnah Hospital where Sarabjit died on May 2. However, on Thursday night, a team of six doctors from government-run Amritsar Medical College conducted a second postmortem as per the wish of victim's family to "know the cause behind his death".
The postmortem, conducted at a government hospital in Patti, also revealed six injury marks on the body, a wound on the chest and blood marks on the face.
One of the doctors, according to the newspaper report, said that as a standard medical procedure, Pakistan could have keep the vital organs for further testing and they would have to rely on Jinnah Hospital reports on these organs.
The body has been kept at a senior secondary school, around 200 metres from Sarabjit's family home, for people to pay their last tributes. Hundreds of people were flocking to the village since early morning to catch the last glimpse of Sarabjit.
Earlier, a contingent of Punjab Police handed over Sarabjit's body to his family in Bhikhiwind. The body was airlifted to the village.
Postmortem was also video recorded. Earlier in the day, the body of 49-year-old Sarabjit was brought from Lahore by a special Air India aircraft.
Sarabjit, the second Indian prisoner to die in Pakistan's notorious Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore this year, was brutally attacked on Friday last by six fellow inmates when he and other prisoners were brought out of their cells for a break.
Punjab government has announced a financial assistance of Rs.1 crore for the family of Sarabjit and declared a three-day state mourning.
Flags will fly half mast on all government buildings and there will be no official ceremonial functions during this period, an official spokesman said.
The Centre also announced ex-gratia payment of Rs.25 lakh for Sarabjit's family from Prime Minister's Relief Fund.
Leaders from the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress reached the Raja Sansi International Airport in Amritsar to receive Sarabjit's body.
Protests erupt in Punjab
Several protests also took place at different places in Punjab including Sarabjit's native village Bhikhiwind near Amritsar. The protesters at his native village burnt the effigies of the India and Pakistan government while schools also remained closed. The protesters were holding Sarabjit's pictures and they criticised the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for failing to save Sarabjit. They alleged that India watched like a mute spectator.
The protesters in Phagwara near Jalandhar demanded the cancellation of bus and train services to Pakistan.
A group of activists also staged a demonstration against Pakistan government on the national highway in Phagwara. The protests forced Sada-e-Sarhad - the Lahore-Delhi international bus - divert the route from the national highway. The Delhi-Lahore bus was also diverted in wake of the protests. These protests were staged by the Hindu Shiv Sena activists.
Sarabjit was sentenced to death for alleged involvement in four bomb attacks in 1990 in Multan killing 14 people. In 2008, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had stayed Singh's execution following the intervention of the human rights activists and appeals by his sister Dalbir Kaur. His fresh plea for mercy is pending before the President of Pakistan.
SOURCE : indiatoday.intoday.in
