The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Swapped ‘bodies’ stir a storm

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 14, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Swapped ‘bodies’ stir a storm

Staff Reporter

Venkatesh’s family furious that the body was of a different person
Stage demonstration demanding stern action against hospital staff

HYDERABAD: The inadvertent swapping of two bodies at the Gandhi Hospital mortuary on Saturday night caused much agony to respective family members.

The bodies of Venkatesh 24, a resident of Jeedimetla and Subba Rao, 40, from Uppal were shifted to the mortuary for conducting postmortems. A few hours later, the hospital staffers completed autopsies, wrapped the bodies with white cloths and handed them over to relatives.

But to their utter shock Venkatesh’ family found that the body was that of a different person when they removed the cloth. Irate family members came back to the mortuary and picked up a quarrel with staffers demanding the body of Venkatesh.

There was mild tension when they staged a demonstration demanding stern action against the staff. In the meantime, the police came and after verifying the records confirmed that Venkatesh’s body was mistakenly handed over to Rao’s family.

Funeral over

And by the time Venkatesh family members traced Rao’s house in Uppal, they came to know that the funeral was already performed at a graveyard in Bansilalpet on Sunday. They too went to the cremation ground and conducted the last rites of Rao. Later, both families exchanged ashes.

Police said Ventakesh had committed suicide by hanging himself at his house due to financial problems, while Rao ended his life by consuming poison at an open place in Ranigunj as he was suffering from convulsions. No case was registered against the mortuary staff.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh