First it was a mobile morgue emitting unpleasant odors in Jalisco. Now it’s autopsies in full public view in the street of a Oaxaca town.
Problems faced by state forensic services have been the result of a shortage of space in morgues for victims of violent crime, but in Santiago Jamiltepec it was the absence of electric light that required a street-level autopsy, photos of which appeared on social media.
A forensic medical specialist from the state Attorney General’s office is seen performing an autopsy on the corpse of a man on the sidewalk outside the Jamiltepec cemetery. Vehicle headlights and a mobile phone are the only sources of illumination.
The doctor, identified only by his first name, Lázaro, is bent over the corpse and performing what has been described as necro-surgery on the head while streams of body fluids run down the street.
The reason given for conducting an autopsy outdoors was that there was no electricity inside the cemetery facilities.
When municipal officials arrived on the scene to investigate they demanded an explanation from the specialist, who refused to give one and rudely sent them away, according to local media reports.
Jamiltepec Mayor Efraín de la Cruz Sánchez denounced the doctor’s performance, stating that he had illegally performed a number of such procedures without the necessary sanitation measures.
” . . . As municipal authorities we demand that the doctor performs his work in a professional manner and in compliance with our municipality’s regulations,” said the mayor’s office in a statement, urging that he “be disciplined.”
Source: NVI Noticias (sp), El Universal (sp)
