The bodies of Lakshmidevi, 82, and her daughter Bhagya Rekha, 59, were disfigured beyond recognition as the women suffered 100% burns in the fire that broke out at their apartment on Tuesday, a doctor said.
The women could be identified only on the basis of their physique and the age of the bodies, said Dr Varghese P S, Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, where the post-mortem was conducted on Wednesday.
"Had this been a mass-casualty incident, identification would've been very difficult as the women suffered 100% burns, our autopsies revealed. They were just charred to death rather than being asphyxiated," Dr Varghese told DH.
The bodies were handed over to the police around 6 pm.
He said the police would have to investigate the source of the fire as they found "no clues on the source".
"There was no trace of chemicals on the bodies either. We prepared a skin sample before handing over the bodies to the police. They can send the sample to a forensic science laboratory to investigate further. We don't suspect foul play. Finding the source of fire will be a big challenge," Dr Varghese said.
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(Published 22 September 2021, 19:46 IST)
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