Mumbai: Four days on, hospital yet to let kin claim body

MUMBAI: Four days after a security guard died on a footpath while walking to the hospital, his nephew has been unable to perform his last rites yet as the civic-run Bhagwati hospital in Borivli, citing his pending Covid-19 report, has not handed over his body.
The deceased worked as security guard at a football-ground in Dahisar and lived alone on the premises. He had been running a fever for the past few days. On Friday afternoon, he started walking toward Bhagwati Hospital, but felt uneasy and slumped onto a footpath, where he breathed his last.
When asked about the delay in the test report, BMC health officials refused to comment.
A video of the guard, sitting on the footpath and struggling for breath, has been circulating among people in the vicinity. Slumdwellers living nearby are said to have gathered around him after noticing him in distress, but no one ventured close to him. They claim they called the helpline, but didn’t get any help. They later managed to find the contact number of the security agency owner—Vasant Shetty who immediately rushed to the spot and after a brief struggle, managed to arrange a private ambulance to take the body to hospital. Shetty informed the guard’s wife in Uttar Pradesh about the tragedy.
Former MP Kirit Somaiya said, “The victim was struggling on the footpath for hours, but he didn’t get help and he died. Now, for the past four days, the government authorities are making his relative wait for the last rites as his Covid test report is awaited.”
Last week, the municipal commissioner had asked that all Covid test reports should be submitted within 24 hours.
The deceased’s nephew said, “Since my uncle’s wife and two sons cannot travel due to the lockdown, they asked me to perform his last rites. I have already visited the hospital thrice. The hospital authorities say his Covid report is expected on Wednesday or Thursday, after which they will hand over the body.”