Who to blame for 'lapses' in first autopsy?

The necessity for exhuming the body of Sohagi Jahan Tonu for a fresh autopsy has raised questions over the investigators' sincerity in probing the murder.

"I want to know who should be held responsible for the lapses in the first autopsy," Tonu's father Yaar Hossain told The Daily Star yesterday.

The first autopsy on the body was conducted on Mach 21, a day after the 19-year-old college student's body was found in Comilla Cantonment.

With the autopsy report yet to be released, detectives obtained the exhumation order from a Comilla court on Monday.

"I respect the court order," said Yaar Hossain, "But I have a question to the authorities -- why should there be a second autopsy?

"I want to know whose negligence is causing this to my murdered daughter."

Yaar also questioned what made the investigators realise seven days after the first autopsy that they needed a fresh one.

The court order reached the police yesterday and the body is likely to be exhumed today.

The move has raised questions among those who have been staging demonstrations demanding justice for Tonu since the news broke on the social networking platforms before the mainstream media picked it up.

"We have been running in vain between government offices for the first post-mortem report," said Khairul Anam Raihan, one of the organisers of Ganajagaran Mancha in Comilla.

"We warn the authorities concerned against any attempt to cover up the truth. The chances for finding evidence in the second forensic examination are definitely slimmer than the first time."