(1) If information is received
that a person is dead due to culpable homicide or accident or suicide
or in an unusual situation or in any other suspicious circumstance,
the investigating authority shall immediately go to the place where
the corpse is located and examine the corpse.
(2) In examining the corpse pursuant to sub-section (1), a
deed containing, as far as practicable, the following matters, in the
form referred to in Schedule-14, and take photographs of the corpse
and the concerned scene in a manner to describe the actual situation
of the corpse:
(a) The identifying description of the corpse,
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(b) The circumstances of the place where the corpse is
located and of the corpse,
(c) If any wound, injury, bruise, abrasion or mark is seen on
the corpse, the description of each wound, injury,
bruise, abrasion or mark including the part where such
wound, injury, bruise, abrasion or mark is seen, the
number, length, breadth, depth and description thereof,
(d) Description of the instrument causing such death and
the related description seen on the corpse, other than
those mentioned in clause (c),
(e) Any such other sign or symptom seen on the corpse that
could be helpful in finding out the cause of death,
(f) Description of other significant matters, if any.
(3) The concerned investigating authority shall, upon
examining the corpse pursuant to sub-section (1), send the corpse to
a government medical doctor or an expert designated in that behalf
by the Government of Nepal or a licensed medical doctor for postmortem,
at the government expenses.
(4) The Government of Nepal shall make available to the
concerned police office such expenses as required for post-mortem
pursuant to sub-section (3).
(5) A report of post-mortem conducted pursuant to subsection
(3) shall be prepared in the form referred to in Schedule-15.
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3),
if, after the execution of the deed on examination of the corpse
pursuant to sub-section (1), it does not appear, from such
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examination of corpse, that the death was caused as a result of the
commission of any offence or in a suspicious circumstance, and the
investigating authority concludes that the post mortem of the corpse
is not necessary, he or she shall execute a memorandum thereon,
setting out the reasons for the same, in the presence of distinguished
local persons and retain the memorandum in the case-file.
(7) If it is not possible or seems impossible to examine the
corpse because of the corpse being decayed or rotted, the concerned
investigating authority shall execute a deed setting out that matter, in
the presence of local distinguished persons.
Provided that if, in spite of the corpse being decayed or rotten,
there is a situation that the cause of death can be found out by other
examination of the corpse or any of its parts, such other scientific
examination may be carried out.
(8) After the completion of post mortem or execution of the
deed pursuant to sub-section (6), the concerned police employee
shall hand over the corpse to the successor to the deceased and get a
receipt from the latter.
(9) If the successor refuses to receive the corpse pursuant to
sub-section (8) or no successor is present or the successor cannot be
identified, the concerned police employee shall perform the last rites
and rituals of the corpse at government expenses.
(10) If the investigating authority deems it appropriate to be
accompanied by the concerned expert in the course of examining the
corpse or conducting post mortem or collecting any other proof or
evidence, he or she may also be accompanied by such expert.
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(11) If the expert or medical doctor examining a corpse or
conducting the post mortem pursuant to this Section thinks that it is
necessary to conduct the post mortem by a team consisting of more
than one expert in order to find out the real cause of death or the
investigating authority thinks that it is necessary to have the post
mortem conducted by a team of experts in order to find out the cause
of death of a person, the post mortem may be conducted by such
team.