World

Autopsy finds injury marks on body of Indian prisoner in Pak

M Zulqernain

Four injuries, including a fracture, were found on the body of Chambail Singh, an Indian prisoner in Pakistan who died after he was allegedly assaulted by staff at a prison here, according to a preliminary autopsy report.

Authorities had constituted a medical board to perform an autopsy on Singh’s body about two months after his death. The autopsy was done shortly before the body was sent to India on March 13.

The preliminary report states that traces of four injuries were found on the body, including a fracture of the right knee, an abrasion of 1.5 cm to 2 cm on the left knee joint, an abrasion over the upper lip and scars on the thigh, official sources told PTI on Monday.

A chemical examination to ascertain the exact cause of death will be conducted later, the sources said. Singh, said to be in his sixties, was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the State-run Jinnah Hospital on January 15. He was serving a five-year prison term at Kot lakhpat Jail for alleged involvement in espionage.

“On January 15, I saw some three jail staff beating Chambail Singh over some issue. He was beaten severely and I think he died because of this,” Tehseen Khan, a Christian lawyer, who recently completed a sentence in jail said.             PTI