May 1995.

First day of my forensic posting.

A young man 23 years age , found dead in the war cemetery , Dewlaland. On post mortem examination, a gunshot cemetery through Dewlaland his right temporal bone...with an exit wound on his left temporal wound.

There were burning of the hair on his right side of his head because of the impact of the gunshot, with a small penetrating gun shot wound . we inserted a kind of a straight wire on his right side wound and it came right through his left side, the only difference it was a big wound on his left side. And a lot of blood , human blood on all his part of the body. he was shot death for his misconduct, only GOd know's what were they until u see it in the newspaper. frankly speaking , i din;t have lunch that day with all those post mortem fluids , the brain matters , the intestine and everything. The trauma lasted only a lunch for me.

But for that guy, his life, his gal friend, his family, his everything. He lost everything. But it was sort of a capital punishment, for some damn reason he had committed. A reason many friend might not understand fully and everything go to be in the X-files. I am sorry to be bringing out this matter, and I really don't know how much this mail is going to mean, but it certainly mean a lot to me.

Because in Manipur, hospital get closed down if a patient dies for unexplained reasons. Remember the numerous strikes in the Hospital. And not many will support such strike by the medical staff, after all strikes (or Bandhs) are a way of life in Manipur. And people make a lot of noise if a life is not saved, especially in a hospital. And sincerely, yes why not, every human has the right to live and to be looked after.

But how much for a person who is shot through his head? Many of us know that life is precious and how many people even know when it is gone. Not many except for his few relatives and love ones. The irony of the whole thing, his hand were tied from behind and believe me, if it was me, that is no way I want to be in that position before my last wish. This mail is really the reality show, where young man are being shot through their head...the reason some crime but does it justify the bullet through their head.

With capital punishment and euthanasia a hugely debated topic. Are we in a position to accept this kind of punishment. Let's say a cancer patient, inspite of all possible medicine in the last 3-4 months, is crying in a lot pain, Enough pain to even give his/her dear & near ones a high degree of emotional pain. What do I do, lets say euthanasia, we give him a lot of sleeping tablets or injection. And the painkiller is so much of a huge dose, he dies of respiratory failure.

Consequences can be very serious. My medical degrees could be stripped off and I could land myself in Sajiwa jail for the rest of my life. The reason is that euthanasia (or mercy killing as it is also known as) is not legal.

But another bullet, another entry and exit wound through another head piercing every brains cells on its path. Will this become just another story in our Manipuri Daily Newspaper. I know this is a very controversial topic given platform of euthanasia and the incidents happening back home.

I will take it as just another experience and another thoughts during my medicine training.

B. Elangbam