The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : They waited for body, got ashes only

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Tuesday, Nov 25, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

They waited for body, got ashes only

R. Sujatha

The body mistakenly cremated by a West Bengal family
Mortuary attendant on duty on Monday suspended

CHENNAI: The relatives of K. Krishnamurthi, a road accident victim, who died at the Government General Hospital on Sunday, had to be satisfied with taking his ashes while his family was waiting for the body at Nemandapuram in Vellore district.

The body of the victim was cremated by a family from West Bengal following an error in tagging dead bodies at the Government General Hospital. The mistake is believed to have occurred because there are no checks on whether the bodies are tagged and stored properly at the hospital’s mortuary.

It is a common practice to carry out autopsy in case of unnatural deaths reported at government hospitals. All State-run hospitals in the city and one private hospital in Porur are authorised to carry out autopsies.

According to the authorities at the hospital, the Forensic Science Department maintains a record of bodies brought for autopsy in medico-legal cases.

The hospital staff tag the bodies, provide a yellow card containing details of the victim and identification marks.

The GGH also offers a facility to store bodies if the relatives of the dead make a request. In such cases, the body is tagged and provided a white card containing details of the deceased. The relatives are required to pay the hospital to maintain the body.

Tapaspal of West Bengal, who was admitted to the hospital for treatment of renal failure, died on Sunday.

His kin did not pay the dues but took possession of the body on Monday morning. Since the explanations provided by the hospital staff were not satisfactory, the Superintendent of the hospital, T.P. Kalaniti, said he had suspended the mortuary attendant who was on duty on Monday.

“Patients from outside the State are treated as paying patients,” explained A. R. Valarmathi, resident medical officer.

“There was no way Tapaspal’s family could have settled the dues as yesterday was Sunday and the hospital administrative office does not begin functioning until 10 a.m. on Monday. We suspect the mistake could have happened while packing the body. Only an enquiry will reveal it,” she added.

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