Ludhiana, Feb. 9 -- A panel of three doctors at the civil hospital here on Sunday conducted the autopsy of a nine-year-old boy, whose body was recovered from bushes barely two kilometres from his home in Kasabad village on Saturday. While the police had initially suspected sexual assault followed by murder, the autopsy revealed no visible external signs of sexual abuse, policesaid.

Swab samples have been preserved for chemical examination to rule out the possibility conclusively, they added.

The medical board, comprising Dr Harpreet Singh, Dr Pawan and Dr Abhaydeep, found a single fatal injury on the child's neck. The boy's throat had been slit with a sharp-edged weapon, causing a deep cut that damaged the windpipe and led to death. Doc...