Ludhiana dead bodies swap case: Kin of deceased youth vandalizes Civil Hospital, FIR registered

Ludhiana: An outbreak of chaos erupted at Ludhiana Civil Hospital when the kin of a 20-year-old deceased youth ransacked and vandalized the hospital property after discovering that his body was mistakenly handed over to some other family who performed his cremation. 

The kin ransacked the mother and child care ward, emergency ward and even the office of the Senior Medical Officer (SMO) on Thursday morning after discovering the shocking truth.

The incident was an alleged negligence case in which the hospital staff swapped the dead bodies of two men and gave them to opposite family members.

The 20-year-old youth was a resident of Peerubanda locality in Salem Tabri who died due to some illness on January 3 and his body was kept at the civil hospital mortuary until his sibling come from abroad to see him for the last time.

The youth’s body was exchanged with a constable at Government Railway Police (GRP), Subhash Nagar, who died of a heart attack a few days ago.

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The swap of his body took place on Wednesday when another family member came to the civil hospital to receive the body of their kin, a GRP employee but instead of his body, they mistakenly took the body of the youth. Without verifying the body, the kin took the body of the youth and performed the last rites.

On Thursday, at around 8.30 am, the youth’s family members reached the civil hospital mortuary to collect his body and were shocked to discover the GRP employee’s body. When they inquired with a hospital employee, it was found that the body of the youth was handed over to another family.

Feeling rage, they beat up the employee and vandalized the hospital property. In fact, more family members reached the spot after receiving the information and thrashed the hospital staff, including women.

Following this, a huge police force reached the spot to control the situation. Two separate FIRs have been registered by the police in this regard.

First, the kin of the youth registered an FIR under sections 379 (theft), 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust) of IPC at division number 2 police station against the hospital staff for swapping the body.

Second, a cross FIR was under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty), 379 (theft) ipc and 3 of prevention of damage to public property act, on the statement of Dr Amarjit Kaur, Senior Medical Officer was registered against the attackers for vandalizing the property and thrashing the hospital employees.

Senior medical officer Amarjeet Kaur informed TOI, "It was such a horrific experience. I am still in shock. Those people thrashed every staff member present and vandalized the hospital. They did not leave a single window or door. They also broke the furniture, LEDs, computer system etc. We understand their sentiments but they could have come to me and talked about it rather than creating a ruckus."

The SMO questioned why the family members of the GRP employee didn't bother to verify the body of their relative. At times, the tag kept on the body can get exchanged but how can a family member not identify the body? adding that when a body is kept in the mortuary, a tag with details is placed on it. When the body is handed over, family members are made to identify it.

Additional DCP Rupinder Sran informed The Tribune, "It is being investigated how mortuary officials handed over the body of the youth to the kin of another family. We will take action against the officials responsible for this negligence.”

The police had sought a report from the civil hospital authority to find whose negligence it was that led to the exchange of the bodies. Following this, a five-member inquiry committee was formed to probe the matter.

The report revealed the same style of beard and mustaches and similar-looking sweaters led to the whole confusion that ultimately resulted in the swapping of their dead bodies.

Taking action against those responsible for the body swap, the civil hospital authorities sacked a contractual employee and transferred an on-roll employee, both deputed in the mortuary, for their negligence.

Talking to TOI, one of the inquiry officers said, “During the probe, we found that the body of the youth reached Ludhiana civil hospital at 3.30 pm on January 3 which was sent by a private hospital where he had died, while GRP’s body was brought directly to the civil hospital around by 7.15 pm.

The private hospital while sending the youth’s body did not attach a tag, which mentions the name and other details. When the body was brought in, it was peak hours at the mortuary and the staffer did not notice that the body was without a tag. He accepted the body and kept it.”

“On January 5, ASI Balwinder Singh from Tibba police station who was investigating the case of the GRP’s death came to the mortuary and identified the youth’s body as the GRP’s mortal remains. He proceeded with an inquest in which he mentioned each and every detail of the body from the marks to the colour of clothes etc.

After the ASI identified the body, it was sent for an autopsy. In the presence of ASI and four GRP personnel, the autopsy was conducted. The same body was then handed over to his paternal uncle, in the presence of other relatives, who too identified the body and took it along,” the officer added.

The inquiry officer said, “The report we have submitted holds different people responsible for the goof-up. At first, the private hospital was at fault as it did not attach a tag on the body; the mortuary staffer accepted the body without a tag; the ASI identified the wrong body and got its postmortem conducted; and the family of the GRP who could not recognise the body.”

Dr Charan Kamal of Ludhiana civil hospital said, “The hospital is overburdened. The timing for the postmortem is from 11 am to 4 pm. On an average, a postmortem takes around half an hour to three hours. With less manpower and limited time, six to seven postmortems are conducted at the mortuary on an average.”

On the other hand, doctors at the Civil Hospital on Thursday went on strike after the kin of the deceased youth vandalized the property. It was due to the timely intervention of Civil Surgeon Hitinder Kaur that the matter was solved and the strike was called off later in the day.

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