PGIMER tells staffers to be vigilant after body swap at mortuary

A Mohali family had ended up cremated the wrong body due to a mix-up

Three days after a Rajpura-based family lodged a police complaint over the body of their ward being wrongly released to another family, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has directed the mortuary officials to remain vigilant while handing over corpses to the kin concerned.

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On October 17, the family members of a Mohali resident, who died of coronavirus, reported at the mortuary to claim his body. Though the due procedure and Covid protocol were followed at the mortuary, the mix-up took place after the said family mistakenly gave confirmation for the wrong body during the identification process, and ended up cremating the Rajpura resident, PGIMER officials said.

“The Mohali family that took the wrong body despite PGIMER following due diligence, has already tendered a written apology in this regard to the department concerned. Also, the remains of the Rajpura resident have been handed over to his actual relatives for the last rites,” PGIMER said in a statement.