POST-MORTEM ORDERED
DEATH €F MAORI
RELATIVES OBJECT
UNUSUAL POSITION
(By Telegraph—Press Association.! LEVIN, This Day.
An unusual position arose over the sudden death of a Native youth, aged 21, which took place on Sunday evening at Opiki.
The Coroner gave : instructions for the body to be removed to the Foxton morgue for a post-mortem examination. The inquest was arranged for 11 o'clock
on Monday morning. The body duly arrived at the morgue accompanied by several of the deceased's relatives, including his mother and father. A doctor was in attendance to carry out the post-mortem, but the women accompanying the body took up a position in' the morgue. The father emphatically protested against a postmortem examination, and the Coroner held a consultation with the police. It was-decided that it was evident that a serious incident would be created if the Coroner insisted on a post-mortem. The parents agreed to an external examination.
The Coroner then decided to open the, inquest. 'After taking formal evidence of identification and the circumstances surrounding the youth's death, he tried to reason with the father that in the interests of all concerned, particularly the Maoris as a race, he should consent to a post-mortem, but without success. The Coroner communicated with the Under-Secretary of Justice and later permission was given the relatives to take the body to Ohau, where the deceased belonged. The inquest was adjourned sine die without a certificate for burial being issued.
Yesterday the inquest was reopened at Levin, when further evidence was taken, the Cotoner's verdict being that the youth's death is presumed to have been caused by heart failure, the actual disease and cause of such- conditions not being available. A rider was added that it was regretted that in the interest of Native health generally the relatives of the deceased took up the attitude that ttiey would on no account agree to a postmortem examination of the body.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19380701.2.159
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 1, 1 July 1938, Page 17
Word Count
318POST-MORTEM ORDERED Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 1, 1 July 1938, Page 17
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