Medicolegal autopsies in India. Delay and nonperformance--adverse effects

Some time lag, however small between time of death or the discovery of the body (and pending medicolegal autopsy), would appear to be indispensible and justified in each case for reasons of investigation. This time interval is reduced to a required minimum, depending upon the competency of crime investigative machinery and the concern of well-intentioned individuals. In a developing country like India, this can cause serious problems. The time lag interval between the discovery of the body and the autopsy is often very long in India, and may be attributed to reasons which are outside the legitimate needs of investigation, ranging from outright incompetence to cool callousness, willful omissions, or machinations based on unfair motivations and political compulsion. Long distances, proper communication, and availability of transportation all play their parts in the need for proper indentification and autopsy examination. In addition to delays in performing the autopsies, there are numerous instances of unnatural, sudden, and suspicious deaths, where postmortem examination is never done. These reasons range from those that are seemingly innocent to those which are grossly unfair or dishonest. The medicolegal postmortem index can vary between 20 and 80% in different areas of India.