More than a year after a 45-year-old Ghatkopar homemaker died in her sleep, her husband is still running around hospitals to ascertain the cause of death. Until Pankaj Raja, 50, gets the final cause-of-death report, his wife remains case number 264/2017 at Ghatkopar police station.

Raja not only had to deal with the sudden loss of his wife, Jyoti, but also faced bureaucratic apathy and was told to pay a bribe to obtain her cause-of-death report. Without the report, the insurance company will not pay Jyoti’s policy amount of Rs 10 lakh to Raja, who is a nominee.

On December 28, 2017, Raja, who works in a chartered accountancy firm, woke up at 5.30am and tried to wake Jyoti up, who was lying motionless. A doctor was called, who declared her dead and suspected it to be a case of cardiac arrest. The doctor suggested a post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

The Ghatkopar police registered a case of accidental death. Jyoti’s viscera samples were sent for chemical analysis to Sir JJ hospital to ascertain the exact cause of death. “Since then, I have been making rounds to JJ hospital, Rajawadi hospital (where the post-mortem was conducted) and the Ghatkopar police station, but there has been hardly any response to my pleas,” said Raja. “The insurance company wants a copy of the cause of death while the police are pointing fingers at JJ hospital for the report.” he added.

The police resort to a postmortem to ensure there is no foul play. The year-long cumbersome process saw Raja struggling to look after his 79-year-old mother at Ghatkopar’s Milind Nagar, along with managing his job and daily household chores. The couple did not have children.

“The running around is becoming too much to handle,” he said. In September 2018, Raja, who had by now made numerous rounds to JJ hospital, met Mahendra Supat, 23, a technical assistant there. When Raja told him about his case, Supat allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 to get the job done. Raja told him he was struggling with finances, after which Supat lowered the amount to Rs 5,000. Till December, Supat gave him assurances about the report, but to no avail.

Raja then approached the anti-corruption bureau. The ACB laid a trap on February 1 and caught Supat accepting the bribe of Rs 5,000. Even after the ACB trap, Raja said he was yet to get the report. “The JJ authorities told me they have sent the reports to Rajawadi where the cause of death will be ascertained. I am now waiting for Rajawadi’s reply,” said Raja.

Authorities stated the process has been expedited. “There have been follow-ups on pending cases,” said Akhilesh Singh, deputy commissioner of police , zone 6. Dr Ajay Chandanwale, who took over as dean of state-run JJ hospital in December, said extra manpower is being deployed to clear pending cases.

First Published: Feb 08, 2019 16:22 IST