Rajkot Civil Hospital body mix-up: Wrong body cremated by family, probe underway

Rajkot: An incident of alleged negligence has been reported at Rajkot Civil Hospital, where the body of a 92-year-old retired teacher was mistakenly handed over to another family, which subsequently cremated it, while his own relatives were still waiting to collect his remains.

 The deceased had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Rajkot and was later placed on ventilator support as his condition deteriorated. He died on September 28. 

His family decided to postpone the last rites as one of his daughters was in the US. The body was subsequently kept in the cold storage facility at Rajkot Civil Hospital.

The mix-up came to light when the family arrived at the hospital on Wednesday to collect the body. Hospital staff were unable to trace it, following which an inquiry was initiated.

The inquiry found that the body had been handed over on Tuesday to another family that had come to Rajkot to collect the remains of a relative after police recovered an unidentified body. An error in identification led to the wrong body being released, according to the hospital.  

The family, unaware of the mistake, took the body to Ramnathpara crematorium and performed the last rites at around 2.30 pm on Tuesday.

After learning what had happened, the deceased’s relatives approached Pradyumna Nagar police station and sought action against those responsible. Police have started looking into the circumstances surrounding the identification and handover.

Hospital authorities have also formed an inquiry committee to establish how the mix-up occurred and whether negligence was involved.

“An inquiry committee had been formed to establish how the mix-up occurred and identify those responsible. The committee will also examine whether the incident amounts to criminal negligence,” the hospital’s medical superintendent said, reports TOI.

The hospital has also decided to prepare a standard operating procedure for identification and handover of bodies to avoid similar incidents in the future.