A tragedy of errors in Ahmedabad

Imagine the trauma of the Bhisikar family of Nikol area in Ahmedabad. The family was back from the crematorium in Vasna consigning the family head Devram Bhisikar to flames. The family went off to sleep. When they got up in the morning they saw three missed calls since 1 am.

After about 1 am on May 30, Devram’s son-in-law Nilesh Nikte (married to Devram’s second daughter), received a number of calls which the couple did not answer. Nikte said, “We answered the call that came at 6 am. The person said they were from GCRI hospital control room and that my father-in-law’s Covid-19 test has come back negative. They asked us to come transfer him to the non-Covid area of the hospital.”

This came across as a cruel joke to the family that was left partly shocked, partly confused. But the ordeal did not end there. Still grieving, what awaited them was a a tragedy-good news-hope-tragedy cycle.



The GCRI located on the campus of Civil Hospital, which has been in news over controversies, has given immense pain to the Bhisikar family. And now the GCRI head claims the call made to the family was just a small mistake.

On Sunday evening, Ahmedabad Mirror met the grieving family which is yet to recover from the mental trauma caused by GCRI's "small mistake".

The deceased, Devram Bhisikar, spent his life working first in the legendary textile mills of Ahmedabad and after their closure in the 80's, he got himself a job in a steel factory.


He raised three daughters, the eldest Bharti who works as a civilian clerk in the Army Cantonment in Ahmedabad. Bharti has two younger sisters.

The oldest Bharti chose to remain single. Devram complained of congestion in the chest on the morning of May 28 and his daughter said this was due to diabetes he was diagnosed with several years ago. So the family took him to Civil Hospital.

After being admitted there by May 28 noon, the family returned to their home in Viratnagar area of Nikol. They were informed by the helpline that they could ask for details from the hospital any time they wanted.

Later on May 28, they had a video chat with him with the help of duty doctors at GCRI. On May 29 morning, around 10 am, they were told that Devram was doing well and they could drop off a few items for him.



However, hardly had they done so and returned home when the control room informed them that his condition was deteriorating and they had to go sign some forms. At 2.30 pm, the family was informed that Devram Bhisikar had passed away just 22 hours after being admitted to the hospital. When Nilesh Nikte, his son-in-law, went to collect the body, it was wrapped in plastic sheets and Nikte was given a bag of his belongings.

The doctors informed Mirror that as per standard procedure, the relatives must be shown the body before being handed over. However, Nikte said this did not take place and he trusted the hospital enough and collected the body on the basis of that trust and signed the release form. Mirror can testify that in severe Covid positive cases, the bodies the families get are wrapped from head to toe and the families do not often unwrap the bodies to avoid contracting the deadly infection.

Devram's body was cremated in Vasna in the presence of Nikte. The deceased's two sons-in-law were the only ones present there. But what awaited them was insult to injury.


After about 1 am on May 30, Nikte received a number of calls which he and his wife did not answer. However, Nikte said, "We answered the call that came at 6 am. The person on the other end said he was calling from cancer hospital's control room. He said my father-in-law's test has returned negative. We were asked to reach the hospital and transfer him to the non-Covid area."

The family first got shocked and then confused, but they thought maybe this was some miracle they could not fathom. Their father was probably alive. But before they could be happy about it they were shocked that they had cremated someone else.

Devram's elder Bharti Bhisikar, whose sister is married to Nikte, said, "We immediately went to the hospital because hours after we cremated a person we thought was our father, we had received a call saying he was alive, Covid negative and doing well. We were told at the hospital that the control room had made a mistake. We were told that our father was no more and the body we cremated was his and nobody else's. We even spoke to Dr Shashank Pandya who admitted the mistake on part of GCRI."

This was much more than the family could take. They returned home dejected. But GCRI's cruel joke or rather a "small mistake" did not end. As soon as the family returned home, they received another call at about 2.30 pm from the GCRI control room saying that Devram Bhisikar was doing well.

This again led to turmoil in the already grief-stricken family that had just returned after clarifying that their patriarch was indeed dead. They thought that after Dr Pandya spoke to GCRI officials, the staff probably conducted a thorough check and were calling the family after doing that. This means, this call had to be taken seriously.


The cycle of confusion-hope-tragedy-hope continued.

Nilesh Nikte said, "I was really scared as I had to answer the family as to who I had just cremated. Anyone would be suspicious after two calls stating that their father was still alive. I had no answer to the multitude of questions from my wife's family..."

Dr Shanshank Pandya, Director, GCRI, said, "Devram was brought on May 28 to the Civil Hospital's trauma centre. Looking at his symptoms of high fever, cold and sore throat, he was sent to the 1,200-bed Covid-care facility of the hospital. On May 28, at 4.48 pm he was transferred to GCRI Covid-19 hospital after taking his sample for testing. On May 29, at 3.15 pm the patient expired. He was admitted in Civil for total of 22 hours. All this while, his coronavirus sample result was pending." "Usually, when a suspect patient dies, we hand over the body to the family after showing them the face. However, if the patient's sample has come back positive and he dies during treatment, then we wrap the body in PPE kit and send it directly to the crematorium."

He further said, "In this particular case, Devram was a suspect patient. Hence, we informed his family, handed over his clothes, belongings and death note along with his body. Before handing over the body, we showed his face to the family member. As per protocol, we clicked the photo of the handing over process."



However, the family denies this. "I did not see my father-in-law's face," Nikte told Mirror. "I collected the body on the basis of the trust I placed in the hospital and signed the release form," he told Mirror.

Dr Pandya said, "On May 29, in the evening, Devram's report came back negative and so GCRI officials called up the family to pass on the information but nobody responded. The officials, however, were not aware about the patient's death. On May 30, the family called back on the number when they were informed that the patient had tested negative and had been shifted to the general ward." He denied that the body has been swapped. "This is just a case of miscommunication," he stressed.

GCRI refuses to name doc responsible for goof-up

When asked to give the name of the doctor or official who goofed up, he said, "We are investigating it at present." When asked to give the address of the patient, he said, "We are not in a position to hand out the details at present as the investigation is on in the case."

When contacted, Civil Hospital Officer on Special Duty M Prabhakar said, "This issue does not pertain to Civil Hospital."

Lack of coordination

In what exposes the absolute lack of coordination between departments at GCRI, when Mirror examined the deceased's reports, it was found that Devram's time of death was mentioned 3.15 pm while the sample was collected at 3.28 pm on May 29, 14 minutes AFTER his death due to "Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome". The sample was received at VRDL at 10.33 pm on May 29, seven hours after the patient had died. Congress spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said, "This is not a normal fault. When someone dies and their emotions are played with in this manner. This is negligence and hurts the family. Just an explanation cannot work from the administration. There are multiple problems coming from Civil hospital. Hope the working at the hospital improves. The family that has gone through this grief cannot be compensated in terms of money."