Nagpur AIIMS launches online tracker for post-mortem reports

Inauguration of the portal with Dr Manish Shrigiriwar (fourth from left), HOD, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at AIIMS Nagpur

The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, has come up with a unique ‘online post-mortem report status', an innovative way to assist the police and relatives of the deceased to get status updates on the autopsy reports in a medico-legal case.

This is the first such portal set up by a forensic department in the state of Maharashtra, which provides real-time tracking of post-mortem report status, ensuring transparency and efficiency, as the data gets updated on the official portal of AIIMS, hospital, Nagpur, which can be accessed by anyone from anywhere.

Moreover, no special software or any design change was required to make it a reality. Regular Excel content is uploaded in PDF format on the official website, which is segregated month-wise.

The service, has been applauded by the public, police and even the forensic surgeons in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra, as the portal avoids unwanted travel to the post-mortem centre from distant areas of Vidarbha region like Gadchiroli, Chandrapur etc but even from neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh etc who travel to Nagpur for medical treatment or otherwise.

Brain child

The concept and execution is the brainchild of Dr Manish Shrigiriwar, professor & head of the department of forensic medicine and toxicology. When asked as to what inspired him to think out of the box, Dr Shrigiriwar explained, "Two police constables from a neighbouring state had visited the department only to inquire about the status of a particular post-mortem report. They travelled hundreds of kilometres, only to return empty handed, when they were informed that the report is not ready. And such was the experience of even relatives, who would travel long distances,"

And Dr P.P. Joshi, Executive Director, AIIMS Nagpur, when informed about the idea, as always, supported and guided us to make this a reality, said Dr Shrigiriwar.

Weekly update of data

On average, between January and March 2025, we have conducted around 55 to 75 medico-legal autopsies. Also, we have updated data from September 2024, onwards till December 2024, wherein on an average 30 to 50 plus autopsies have been done.

"Apart from the deceased name, age and gender, we have a column for concerned police station, where the accidental death report (ADR) has been registered; column for body being unknown/unclaimed which is crucial as we can upload photographs for such unclaimed bodies, and anyone can identify such unclaimed bodies, if they visit the website. There is a column that also provides details of the policeman who collected the autopsy report and their identity number so that the relatives can contact the concerned policeman at the respective police station," said Dr Shrigiriwar.

When asked about the pendency of cases, the professor said, "We have no pendency of cases, as data gets uploaded every Saturday and the police/relatives can get the status update online. PM reports are crucial for ongoing criminal trials, and also for insurance claims etc."

"Though our medico legal reports and details are in typed format, we still have to manually sign the final report, giving the cause of death. The final report, along with pictures of the injury marks, can be uploaded along with the pm notes, which is not accessible to the common public other than the law enforcing agencies, who can use the same for judicial proceedings," the professor said.

Reactions

"It is indeed worth appreciating the efforts put in by Dr Shrigiriwar and his team, as the crucial status of the autopsy report can easily be checked online, and this would save crucial time and efforts of police and relatives of making rounds to the hospitals," said Dr Indrajit Khandekar, professor of forensic medicine and toxicology, MGIMS, Sevagram.

"The new system of uploading post-mortem report status online will surely be helpful to the relatives of the deceased and police," a forensic surgeon from Mumbai, requesting anonymity.