Section 20: Examination of corpse to be made

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,

(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 sub section (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 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 postmortem 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 postmortem or collecting any other proof or evidence, he or she may also be accompanied by such expert.

11) If the expert or medical doctor examining a corpse or conducting the postmortem pursuant to this Section thinks that it is necessary to conduct the postmortem 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 postmortem conducted by a team of experts in order to find out the cause of death of a person, the postmortem may be conducted by such team.