9. Parents awaiting evidence Controversy around Argentine citizen found dead in India By Shaké Balian For the Herald A travel-loving 40-year-old Argentine citizen, Horacio Adrián Gil, died suddenly last February 5 in Mysore, India. After more than four months, his devastated parents in Buenos Aires still want to know why. Horacio was a museologist who worked in his parents’ antiques store and at his own stand at the Plaza Dorrego Fair. In December every year he grabbed his back-pack and took off to some part of the world. His parents, María Inés and Cacho Gil, well-known antiques dealers in San Telmo, have read what Dr Nithin, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Forensic Medicine of the J.S.S. Medical College in Mysore, wrote on February 13 on his certificate of embalming: “sudden death (suspected poisoning).” In the doctor’s post-mortem report on the same date, he declared that the “left auricular diameter shows 40% block (arteriosclerosis)” and found “100 millilitres of dark-brown-coloured fluid” in Horacio’s stomach. Dr Nithin wrote that his provisional opinion was “kept pending for want of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory Report and HPE Report.” The last person to have seen the young man alive, Neil Davidson, a British citizen, handwrote in his statement that after they both had some beers at the hotel the previous evening, Horacio Adrián “sniffed some powder,” was “not able to walk on his own,” so the Briton took him to his own room nearby. Davidson writes: “At 8.30am Adrián still asleep but breathing. Stopped breathing at 9.15 am.” Horacio’s many friends and girl-friend in Argentina swear he never took drugs. A group of Americans he befriended in India never saw him take drugs either. Párrafo I Argentino Muerto en India P II Horacio cada Diciembre viajaba alguna parte del mundo P III Según el Doctor, fue una muerte repentina, se cree que fue envenenado P IV P V La última persona que lo vio fue un Ingles. Él declaro que Horacio aspiro un “polvo” y tomo, no pudiendo caminar por si solo P VI Sus amigos juran que Horacio nunca consumió drogas
10. The toxicological and histopathological reports have never reached Horacio’s parents. Nor have the digital photos of the body (which had some external injuries) reached the Gils, nor those of the heart with a focus on the coronary artery, nor the CD of the autopsy, nor the specimens of Horacio’s organs which are still at the Argentine Embassy in India. All of these were mentioned to the Gils by the Head of the Consular Section of the Argentine Embassy in India Juan José Santander, who on April 19-22 was told by Mr Aggarwal, an Indian Police Commissioner, that the final report would be available in about two weeks as it was at some judiciary offices because there was a criminal lawsuit under way (?). Mr Santander says that the autopsy stated that Horacio died of an ischaemia (localized tissue anemia) produced by the obstruction of the coronary artery. In a signed statement, Dr Eduardo F. García, an Argentine pathologist, believes that more information is needed to determine the cause of death. Such as whether there were any lesions in the aorta or a description of the myocardium (middle muscular layer of the heart wall) if Horacio, who had no previous heart ailments, is to be declared to have died of a heart-related problem. He also thinks that the external injuries (which include bruises), however minor, should be further examined to rule out a struggle. Other doctors consulted by the Gils have agreed with Dr García. P VII Los datos de la autopsia nunca llegaron a los padres. El embajador Argentino dijo que Horacio falleció de un caso de anemia P VIII Un argentino patólogo, sostuvo que es necesaria más información antes de determinar la causa de muerte What was the fluid in Horacio’s stomach? Where are his organs? What did Horacio supposedly sniff? Can a 40 percent obstruction kill a 40-year-old person? These are only a few of the many questions the parents ask themselves. They know nothing about the criminal lawsuit in India. They never received the clothes their son wore when he died, nor was there any money among his belongings that they recovered. They need to have access to the specimens, the toxicological and histopathological reports, photographs and CDs. The Indian Embassy has told the Gils to deal with the Foreign Affairs Office in BA. Lately, the Gils’ phone calls and letters to Minister Héctor Dellepiane at the Foreign Affairs Office have remained unanswered. Nothing will bring their son back, but they urgently need the help of the Foreign Affairs Office to obtain at least some kind of closure. P IX Los padres tienen muchas preguntas sin responder. No recibieron ninguna pertenencia de Horacio. Todo quedo en India P X Ni la embajada de India ni la oficina de relaciones Internacionales ofrecen una respuesta P XI
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