Teen dies during operation in Delhi, family says organs stolen

Her parents took the body from the hospital. After reaching home, they called the police control room and said that some organs had been removed from the girl’s body, said police officers

The Delhi Police have written to the state government to constitute a medical board for the post-mortem of a 15-year-old girl, who died following a surgery at the MCD-run Hindu Rao Hospital on January 26 with the family alleging that her organs were stolen at the hospital, senior officers aware of the case said on Tuesday.

Police took the body to the Jag Pravesh hospital, and then preserved it at the GTB hospital mortuary. (Representative Image/Getty Images)

Sagar Singh Kalsi, deputy commissioner of police (north) said, the teenager was admitted to the hospital with some intestinal issue on January 21. “She underwent a surgery on January 24. On January 26, she died at the hospital. Her parents took the body from the hospital. After reaching home, they called the police control room and said that some organs had been removed from the girl’s body, pointing out to some holes in her stomach, which they claimed were covered with a polythene sheet,” said DCP Kalsi.

“Following the complaint by the family, the body was preserved at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital. Currently, proceedings to get a post-mortem done by a medical board are underway,” Kalsi said.

The family also shared photographs of the body which were widely circulated on social media. HT could not independently confirm the authenticity of the photographs.

A senior MCD official denied the allegations by the family, and said that the MCD is co-operating with the police. “We are in touch with the investigating officer and will be cooperating in the probe. MCD denies the allegations of organ theft. The doctors have stated that the patient was suffering from intestinal wound, and no organs have been removed,” he added.

Dr Mukesh Kumar, medical superintendent of Hindu Rao Hospital, said, “It would not be correct to go into the details of the case since it’s now part of a police investigation. We have, however, submitted the case summary to the police and we will help them with any investigation.”

Police officers aware of the probe said the investigating officer has collected medical papers from the hospital and will record the statement of doctors based on the findings of the post-mortem report.

On Tuesday, the teenager’s body was brought to the Maulana Azad Medical College, where the post-mortem will be conducted, police said.

The family, who live in Bhajanpura, said the police informed them that the probe will start after the results of the post-mortem will be known.

“The hospital authorities were in a hurry when they handed us the body. They said that if we did not take the body immediately, they would put it in a mortuary. They said releasing the body from mortuary would take time so we brought the body home directly. While the body was being cleaned as part of the burial rituals, women in our family spotted a large hole in her stomach. The hole was covered with a polythene sheet. We called the police helpline, 112, after which police the reached our house and took custody of the body,” said Irfan, the elder brother of the girl.

Police took the body to the Jag Pravesh hospital, and then preserved it at the GTB hospital mortuary.

Irfan (26) said their father works at a scrap shop, and he runs an e-rickshaw.