KOCHI: Even as debate rages on issues in conducting forensic examination in established five old government medical colleges, it has become all the more glaring in the only government medical college in the most advanced city in the state which lacks even a forensic surgeon to conduct such postmortems.
The debate has erupted in the wake of issues in conducting the post-mortem of the victim girl in the Perumbavoor incident. It has been two-and-a-half years since the takeover of the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital at Kalamassery and the victim’s body skipped the college to rush to Alappuzha Medical College.
This happens at a time when the Ernakulam General Hospital situated in the heart of the city is manned by a forensic surgeon but according to hospital sources often he would be in courts in connection with cases, which was why the body of Perumbavoor victim was taken to Alappuzha.
Moreover post-mortems in the case of murders which need examination by a team cannot be undertaken by the single surgeon, the hospital officials pointed out. Hence all controversial cases are referred to Alappuzha TD Medical College. There are only two forensic lecturers in the forensic department at EGMC, Dr Nazeem C H and Dr Valsala Mohan George, both having MBBS. The department lacks a doctor with MD in forensic medicine.
“The situation has occurred as the government has failed to make additional appointments in EGMC after the takeover of the college from Co-operative Academy for Professional Education (CAPE). Worse still, the government is yet to absorb existing staff into government service,” said Dr Nazeem.
Apart from the two forensic doctors, the department has only two attenders. “However, the infrastructure is good at the medical college with two post-mortem theatres and four freezers. We now undertake non-controversial cases only,” said Dr Nazeem.
She also said that there is a gross dearth of forensic surgeons as it is the last priority of medical students these days. “Even at the Alappuzha medical college, the forensic department is manned by four doctors in place of seven doctors,” she said.
