Indigenous communities and the forensic autopsy

Excerpt

More and more often forensic pathologists and medical examiners are encountering cultural and religious groups whose background is non-Western and who may not have previously had to deal with issues related to autopsy examinations. Handling of the naked body of the deceased by members of the opposite sex, with incisions and tissue and fluid removal, may be completely foreign concepts perceived by certain groups to be both mysterious and highly offensive. Other significant issues arise when the standard time taken for a medicolegal examination results in serious delays for religious rituals and burials, and when there has been retention of organs for further examination. …