The parents of a dead woman complained that their daughter's in-laws used to demand for dowry frequently. Their daughter had died within 5 years of marriageunder suspicious circumstances. The magistrate can authorize the autopsy of this case under which of the following sections:

In this above case, the history raises the suspicion of dowry death. Such death under peculiar circumstances can be investigated by the orders of the Magistrate. Section 176 CrPc is concerned with Magistrate's Inquest. This section of the law deals with the inquiry of the Magistrate into the cause of the death. A magistrate's inquest is conducted by : a. District Magistrate - Collector / Deputy Commissioner b. Sub-divisional Magistrate (RDO) c. Tahsildar d. Any other Executive Magistrate - especially empowered by the State Government. The Magistrate's inquest is conducted for the following cases : 1. Death under police custody 2. Rape under police custody 3. Death during police interrogation 4. Death due to police firing 5. Death in prison 6. Death in Reformatories 7. Death in Borstal school 8. Death in a psychiatric hospital 9. Sudden disappearance of a person 10. Dowry death 11. Suicide of a woman within seven years of her marriage 12. Exhumation - to conduct examination of the buried body of the victim Ref: The Essentials of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology By Dr. K. S. Narayan Reddy, 27th Edition, Pages 5-6, 255, 258-259; Textbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology By Krishan Vij, 5th Edition, Pages 169, 206; Concise Textbook Of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology By Sharma, 2nd Edition, Page 102.