Two senior government pathologists have differed on what killed a woman who was found hanging from a window grill in her house.
Dr. Johansen Oduor appeared before an inquest into the death of Vanitah Nikesh and told court he could not establish if she hanged herself from the report prepared by his colleague Dr. Peter Ndegwa.
Oduor was giving his opinion on the post-mortem report filed by Ndegwa which had concluded that Vanita committed suicide by hanging.
Vanitah’s body was discovered hanging by neighbours on April 3 2022 at her house and her husband Nikesh Harji was arrested for her murder.
He was later released and the matter referred to an inquest after investigations failed to make conclusive report.
Oduor told Magistrate Electer Rianyi court that from the report filed in court it looked like the autopsy was conducted in a hurry
However, Oduor said due to the many gaps and vital information left out of the report by Ndegwa it was hard to come to a finding.
Oduor who testied virtually told court that from Ndegwa’s report, he pointed several serious things that left him with more questions than answers as to how the autopsy was performed.
He said Ndegwa never described the neck structures of the deceased or even the organs or their weights which is a departure from the norm.
It was his further opinion that Ndegwa also never documented where he examined the anterior aspect of intervertebral discs which is a common feature frequently observed in cases of hanging.
Oduor also faulted Ndegwa for not taking samples from Vanitah for toxicology to rule out foreign substances and drugs in the body.
It was his theory that in many cases some victims are drugged and then a ligature is tied on their neck for it to appear as if they have hanged themselves.
In cross-examination by Nikesh’s lawyer Martina Swiga put Oduor to task on how he came to the said conclusions even though he was not the one who performed the autopsy.
Swiga asked Oduor what standards he was referring to that Ndegwa did not use in the autopsy.
Oduor said that it is a standard practice that is unwritten because there is no policy but they mostly go back to the forensic books for guidance.
He also said they have worked together with Ndegwa in many autopsies and have followed the same standard but he does not know why his colleague chose to omit some information.
The case will resume hearing on September 14.
