As family digs in its heels, Sandeep Gadoli's body rots in JJ mortuary

‘Token No. 83' at JJ Hospital's mortuary may be laid to rest soon. With investigation into the alleged fake encounter of Haryana gangster Sandeep Gadoli picking up pace, the Supreme Court will on July 13 take up a plea from the family for a second autopsy under the supervision of a magistrate. The family may claim Gadoli's corpse from JJ Hospital's mortuary after this hearing. It has so far refused to accept the body, demanding that all police personnel involved in the killing be brought to book first.

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Sandeep Gadoli's body is lying unclaimed in JJ Hospital's mortuary. Sister Sudesh Kataria says the family wants the Gurgaon policemen brought to book. File pics

Sudesh Kataria, Gadoli's elder sister, said the family is confident that the SC will issue an order in its favour.

Not embalmed
Even if the SC agrees to a second autopsy, officials at JJ Hospital caution that it might be a fruitless exercise. Gadoli's body, tagged ‘Token No. 83', has begun to decompose in the absence of embalming solutions to preserve it. Little evidence can be extracted from such a state of putridity.

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The family had not sought that the body be embalmed in the belief that the formalin solution would interfere with the findings of a second autopsy.

Sudesh learnt that her brother's body has become highly decomposed only last Sunday when she was allowed into the mortuary. "The skin had blackened. Also, a reddish fluid was oozing from the nasal cavity and the skin had started peeling off," she rued.

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The mortuary staff said the corpse, being preserved at 4°C, has begun emitting a stench - a sign that bacteria and micro-organisms have begun breaking down its cellular structure.

Futile exercise
A senior forensic surgeon at the hospital said, "Any more delay and the abdomen will bloat with toxic gases, resulting in a stench, making airlifting the body [for the last rites in Haryana] a challenge. Had the body been embalmed, decomposition would have been delayed and damage prevented."

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He warned that no evidence can be gathered from a decomposed body. "Injury marks on the skin cannot be ascertained due to discolouration."