The attorney general of Ondo, Olukayode Ajulo, has called for an end to the payment of autopsy fees by families of suspected homicide victims. 

Mr Ajulo made the call in a statement on Tuesday. He said that the bereaved families should not bear the cost of establishing the cause of death where a person died under suspicious, unnatural or potentially criminal circumstances. 

He said autopsies in suspected homicide cases were essential to criminal investigations and should not depend on the financial capacity of the deceased’s family. 

“A citizen who has suffered a crime should not be required to purchase justice before the state will investigate that crime,” Mr Ajulo said. 

According to him, failure to conduct autopsies or make medical reports available could create serious evidentiary gaps in the prosecution of homicide cases. 

“In some instances, relatives of deceased persons would tell the court that no autopsy was conducted because the family could not afford the fees demanded for the examination. This can leave prosecutors without crucial evidence required to establish the cause of death and properly present the state’s case,” he said. 

Mr Ajulo said that the responsibility for investigating suspected criminal conduct should not be transferred to grieving families. 

“Justice must never become a commodity available only to those who can afford its preliminary cost,” he said. 

Mr Ajulo called for closer coordination among the police, medical practitioners, the judiciary and other relevant institutions to ensure prompt autopsies and proper transmission of medical reports to investigators and prosecutors. 

He said the government should provide appropriate budgetary mechanisms for the medico-legal examinations required in investigating suspected crimes.

(NAN)