Narcoanalysis is neither effective nor ethical: Response to Dr Harish Gupta.

This is in response to Dr. Harish Gupta's letter [1] commenting on my editorial titled "Police investigation and unethical 'scientific interrogation'" [2] in the January-March 2023 issue of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. I had written in light of the resurgence in the use of narcoanalysis (truth serums) ─ especially in the Shraddha Walkar murder case, against the accused, Aaftab [2].

Police investigation and unethical "scientific interrogation".

Shraddha Walkar's horrific murder has rekindled the urgent issue of domestic violence and violence against women in India [1]. With women's bodies often becoming part of a larger ideological and political narrative, Walkar's brutal murder was given a communal turn due to the interfaith nature of the relationship. The most visible manifestation of this was the attack by members of the Hindu Sena on the accused, Aaftab, while being taken from the forensic lab to Tihar jail [2], in the name of "protecting their women".