Last glimpse bares Covid body goof up seconds before funeral

Nagpur: Seconds before cremation, daughter of a Covid-19 victim wished to see face of her father for the last time as the body lay on the pyre. She was shocked to see a woman’s face instead. The hospital where her father died had handed over the body of a woman.
Later, relatives of the deceased (63) went on to level allegations of injuries and blood stains on the body of their family member, raising suspicion.
Former corporator Premlal Bhandakkar told TOI, “All of us are in a shock due to utter negligence of the administration of Lata Mangeshkar Hospital (LMH), Hingna. We could have never known about it had not the daughter of my deceased brother-in-law wished to see his face. Inquiry should be conducted followed by action,” he said.
Bhandakkar said, “My sister and brother-in-law tested positive and got admitted to LMH on August 26. We were never informed about their health status. Fortunately, my sister recovered and discharged on Saturday. We received a call at 8.30pm on Saturday that my brother-in-law has passed away. Then a call came from Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) asking us to reach hospital at 11.30am on Sunday. NMC’s hearse with four workers in PPE kits were ready. The LMH staff asked NMC workers to bring the body from an upper floor.”
“The NMC staffers said it was the hospital staff’s duty to carry the body up to the entrance. Son of the deceased was asked to sign on a paper. Hospital staff pasted a sticker with the name of my brother-in-law on the body bag. We took the body to Gangabai ghat for cremation. After laying the body on the pyre, the deceased’s daughter, who is a doctor, requested that she be shown his face for the last time. However, we were shocked to see a woman’s body inside the body bag,” said Bhandakkar.
“We immediately contacted LMH which traced my brother-in-law’s body which was handed over to the relatives of the deceased woman and was taken for cremation to Mokshadham. Fortunately, the cremation had not been performed. Hospital staffers rushed there and exchanged the bodies,” he said.
The videos showing sticker of a man’s name on the body bag of a woman deceased and vice versa are in possession of TOI.
The deceased woman was a resident of Bhim Nagar in Hingna. The relatives were unaware of the exchange of bodies till the hospital staffers reached Mokshadham.
The deceased man’s son-in-law Dhiraj Dalal expressed his displeasure over police ignoring their complaints. “We contacted Kotwali and Lakadganj police who arrived at Gangabai ghat. We showed blood stains and bandages on the body and also informed no surgery was performed at the hospital before his death. The constables advised us to approach Hingna police as the patient died at LMH. Government agencies should try to help grieving people and not saddle them with jurisdictional constraints. In our case, we were already baffled to see blood on the body of our Covid patient, which is not normal,” he said.
Later, the cremation was performed at around 3.30pm.
Zonal DCP Rahul Maknikar said he inquired with senior inspector Dnyaneshwar Bhosale of Kotwali police station who said no complaint was filed by the aggrieved family. “We cannot suo moto proceed with the probe unless a complaint is lodged. If a complaint is lodged, we will transfer it our Hingna counterparts,” he said.
Dean of LMH Dr Kajal Mitra denied any goof up by the hospital. “Hospital is strictly adhering to Covid-19 protocol. The relatives of the deceased were first shown bodies. Two bodies with separate code numbers were released for two ambulances. Family members of the deceased and NMC employees were also present then. The goof up must have happened when the NMC employees loaded the bodies in ambulances,” he said.
Dr Mitra added, “When we came to know about it from a relative, we sent our ambulance and exchanged the bodies. NMC should conduct enquiry to find who is responsible for the goof up.”
On allegations of blood stains and injuries on the body, Dr Mitra said he did not get any complaint from anyone so he will not be able to comment on it.