The act of transporting a body with two elderly people and a consignment of vegetables and groceries from one branch to another of a hospice in Kancheepuram district caused a flutter on Tuesday.
The shocking act of the hospice, which runs facilities in Dindigul, Paleswaram and Irumbuliyur in Kancheepuram, came to light when the woman, who was made to travel with the body, cried out when the van that left the Irumbuliyur branch near Tambaram was close to Paleswaram at around 2.30 p.m.
On hearing her, passers-by on Idaiyathur Road intercepted the van to find the woman and a man being made to travel with vegetables, groceries and a body covered in a blanket.
Personnel from the Salavakkam police station reached the spot and questioned the driver.
The driver, Rajesh, told the police that he was transporting the body from the Irumbuliyur branch to the Paleswaram branch, where cellar-type concrete vaults were available for disposal of bodies.
Destitute persons
Further inquiries revealed that the elderly persons in the van — Selvaraj, 65, of Singaperumal Koil, Kancheepuram district, and Annammal, 70, of Koovam hamlet, Tiruvallur district — were destitute and handed over to the hospice at Irumbuliyur a few days ago by the Chennai city police on finding them wandering on the streets of Chennai. The deceased was identified as Vijayakumar, 70, said the Superintendent of Police, Santosh Hadimoni.
In news earlier
The hospice at Paleswaram hit the headlines in February 2012 for the manner in which it was disposing of bodies.
Villagers objected to the practice of leaving bodies wrapped in cloth in reusable concrete cellar-type vaults to decay on its own.
However, the hospice authorities had claimed that they were following a method that was being practised in Kerala and Dindigul.
