The medical staff also asked for another Rs 800 to properly wrap the body but “when we refused to get this amount arranged, they handed over a half-sewn body”, alleged Rana.

The chief medical officer (CMO) of Baghpat on Monday sought an explanation from a doctor and his two helpers of the district hospital mortuary for allegedly demanding a Rs 8,700 bribe for expediting the autopsy of a 16-year-old boy who allegedly died by suicide at Nirpura village on Saturday night.

“I have not received any written complaint but have sought details from the doctor. Action will be taken if we do not get the answer to our satisfaction,” CMO Raj Kishore Tandon told The Indian Expres.

What prompted the CMO to seek a reply from the doctor was a tweet by Nischay Rana, the son of Nirpura Gram Pradhan Munesh Devi. Tagging Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the tweet, Rana demanded an inquiry in the case and also sent letters to the public grievance cells of the CM and the Prime Minister’s Office.

The boy’s unemployed father, Som Dutt Sharma, expressed his helplessness in arranging Rs 8,700 but the villagers pooled Rs 5,500 and persuaded the medical staff to hand over the body for the last rites on Sunday, said Rana.

The medical staff also asked for another Rs 800 to properly wrap the body but “when we refused to get this amount arranged, they handed over a half-sewn body”, alleged Rana. “This has put humanity to shame,” he said.

Sharma lives in a one-room rented house in the village with his son and a daughter. He does not have a regular source of income and whatever money they had dried up during lockdown period, Rana said.