Heart, kidneys missing: Autopsy

In the second autopsy conducted on Thursday night, Sarabjit Singh’s heart, stomach and kidneys were not found in the body. 

A panel of doctors in Amritsar, who performed the second autopsy, said all these vital organs were found missing and as a result it will be difficult to conclusively ascertain the exact cause of the death. 

Doctors said the organs were probably removed in Pakistan during the first autopsy there for further investigation.  Pakistan has neither shared the first autopsy report with India nor informed Indian authorities about removal of organs.

Doctors on Friday said they cannot speculate on the exact cause of his death for now, but provisionally it could be head injury as he was hit by heavy blunt objects. 

There was also a 5-inch scar on the head. “His vital organs like heart, kidney were not found. We didn’t anticipate that Pakistan would send the body without these vital organs,” said Dr Gurmanjit Singh, head of forensic department, who was part of the panel of doctors who conducted the autopsy. 

He, however, added that Pakistani doctors could have kept the vital organs for further testing as a standard medical procedure.

The second autopsy will be considered just as a supplementary report to the first. The doctors here said they will have to rely on the reports from Pakistan on these organs. 

According to sources, there were also bedsores on Sarabjit’s body, which indicates that Sarabjit could have been perennially ill and had been lying in a particular posture for a long period of time.

Dr Subash Sharma, a senior surgeon and former head of Civil Hospital in Panchkula near Chandigarh, told Deccan Herald that in many such cases, vital organs are removed for further investigation. “Further testing may reveal poisoning in the organs or even more. This is important from the investigation point of view as well,” Dr Sharma said.  

 India can ask Pakistan to send back the organs. A panel comprising five doctors, heads of the departments of forensics, anaesthesia, orthopaedic, surgery and pathology from Amritsar Medical College conducted the second autopsy.