The reopened inquest into the death of ANC president-general Chief Albert Luthuli on Tuesday heard evidence that he may have been a victim of assault.
Luthuli died in 1967 after he was allegedly hit by a train, a claim his family is disputing.
Crime scene expert W/O Brendan Burgess told the Pietermaritzburg high court that findings by forensic pathologist Dr S Nsele from the KwaZulu-Natal department of health, who did a review report on Luthuli's injuries, contradicted findings by three doctors who examined him in 1967.
He said Nsele's findings revealed that Luthuli's injuries suggested defensive wounds. Burgess said according to Nsele, Luthuli was injured on both his hands and had a fracture in one of his elbows, which suggested he might have been protecting himself from a person or persons who were attacking him.
Burgess also told the court that based on his investigation, Luthuli was injured and his body was put on a railway track. Burgess said the evidence by train driver Stephanus Lategan at the initial inquest in 1967 was inconsistent with Luthuli's injuries. He said it was unlikely that Luthuli was hit by a train on the right shoulder.
Burgess said it was possible for Lategan to see if there was someone lying on the railway track before he entered the bridge of a train platform. He said Lategan applied the brake on the train for a reason, because he saw that there was someone lying on the railway track.
Burgess said there were many inconsistencies in Lategan's evidence, including the direction in which the train was travelling. He testified there were also inconsistencies in the medical reports by the doctors who treated Luthuli after the accident and the post-mortem.
Burgess said the train did not stop where Lategan claimed it had stopped. Burgess said it was highly improbable that Luthuli was hit by a train.
The inquest continues on Wednesday.
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