Hospital hands over body to wrong family; 2 staffers suspended

Mumbai, September 14

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A civic-run hospital here handed over the body of a 28-year-old man to the wrong family following which relatives of the deceased created ruckus at the medical facility.

The deceased’s family members also alleged that his kidney was removed during postmortem.

The mix-up happened at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital on Sunday, following which two staffers of its mortuary were suspended and a probe was launched into the matter, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Monday.

“Strict action will be taken against those found guilty,” the BMC said while dismissing the allegation that the man’s kidney was removed doing postmortem.

On Sunday, the medical facility, commonly known as the Sion Hospital, erroneously handed over the body of Ankush Sarvade (28), who succumbed to injuries sustained in a road accident while undergoing treatment, to the family of another person, Hemant Digambar, who committed suicide.

When the mix-up came to light, Sarvade’s family members staged a protest in the hospital.

According to the BMC, Sarvade was admitted to the Sion Hospital on August 28 and was on life support since an operation was performed on him. He died on Sunday morning.

Digambar was “brought dead” to the hospital on August 12, it said.

The Sion Hospital conducted postmortem of both on Sunday and the bodies were kept in the medical facility’s mortuary, the BMC said in a release.

Sarvade’s family members had informed that they will collect the body around 4 pm. In the meantime, Digambar’s family members identified Sarvade’s body like his and collected it with “police signature” following all due procedures, the civic body said.

The error came to light when Sarvade’s relatives came to collect his body. By that time, Digamber’s family had performed the last rites of Sarvade, it said.

Later, Sarvade’s angry family members created ruckus in the hospital, but police intervened and brought the situation under control, the civic body said. PTI