Reply: I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that whenever a case of death has been referred by a public hospital or reported to the Police, a postmortem examination is carried out by the Police Medical Officer in accordance with Section 110 of the District and Intermediate Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act. The reasons for carrying out a postmortem are to – (a) determine the cause and manner of death; (b) assist in investigations; (c) determine types of weapons used to commit offences and time of death; (d) collect specimens like drugs and/or poisons for analysis; (e) examine skeletal remains for identification purposes, and (f) provide valuable insights that often go beyond the immediate circumstances surrounding an individual’s death. As regards part (b) of the question, from January 2020 to 30 January 2025, the number of postmortem examinations performed yearly over the past five years are as follows – Year No. of Postmortem Examinations 2020 1,202 2021 1,435 2022 1,458 2023 1,425

128 2024 1,541 2025 (as at 30 January 2025) 141 With regard to part (c) of the question, I am informed by the Commissioner of Police that over the past five years, there have been three requests for counter-expertise. All these three requests have been acceded to. In two cases, the counter-expertise has come up with the same conclusion as to the cause of death certified by the Police Medical Officer. In the remaining one, the counter-expertise report has not yet been communicated to the Police. As the House is aware, several cases of postmortem examinations that came to light recently have raised serious doubts on the way such examinations are undertaken. I have in mind the case of the late Soopramanien Kistnen and that of late Jacquelin Steeve Juliette. The judicial enquiry held in the case of the death of Kistnen on 04 December 2020 has raised strong doubts on the reliability of the postmortem carried out. Regarding the case of Jacquelin Steeve Juliette, the population took cognisance with a sense of profound disgust, revolt and horror of the conversation between the former Commissioner of Police and the Chief Medical Officer casting further doubts on the credibility of postmortem examination. Both cases are currently being reviewed. I intend to ask for assistance from international experts to throw light on these cases. I wish to inform the House that I have given strict instructions to the new Commissioner of Police that postmortem examinations should be carried out in strict compliance with the protocol existing in countries like the UK. RECRUITMENT EXERCISES – POST WRIT OF ELECTIONS 2024