A case of misidentification of a body has emerged from the Civil Hospital in Faridabad where authorities cremated the wrong body thinking the deceased was coronavirus-positive. However, in reality, the body was kept in the mortuary on Friday night for a post-mortem in a murder case, read an India Today report.
On Saturday morning, the family members alerted hospital authorities that the body has gone missing from the mortuary. It was later revealed that the hospital staff had handed over the body to the municipal corporation for cremation assuming it was a coronavirus positive patient.
The family members of the deceased agitated outside the hospital on Saturday after which police lodged a complaint and are investigating the case. The deceased had been killed on Friday night and his body was sent to the hospital for post-mortem. Family members alleged a conspiracy in the matter.
According to the relatives, the deceased was stabbed and killed on Friday night after an argument. His body was kept in the mortuary of Civil Hospital in Faridabad. Police had assured the family members that the matter will be investigated after the post-mortem report comes. However, when the family members reached the hospital on Saturday morning to complete the formalities, the body was missing.
After relatives raised the issue with hospital authorities, the concerned doctor fled the spot. The family members have alleged that the police and hospital authorities are responsible for negligence.
“Had the police conducted the post-mortem on time, the body would not have gone missing from the mortuary. When we reached the hospital, my relative’s body was missing from the mortuary. We saw that the authorities were taking a body for cremation. We immediately asked the hospital authorities to stop but they said it is a coronavirus patients’ body. We asked them to show us the face or a photograph of the body so we could identify and be sure that it wasn’t our relative. However, no one listened to us and they cremated the body,” said a relative of the deceased.
ACP, Ballabgarh, Jaiveer Singh Rathi said, “The matter is under investigation and action will be taken against the culprits.”
