Body of woman who died of Covid goes missing from Lok Nayak mortuary, family files police complaint

New Delhi: For the last 11 days, a family from east Delhi has been running from pillar to post in search for the body of a 38-year-old woman, who died of Covid-19 at Lok Nayak hospital on April 16, but her last rites could not be performed because all family members were also infected and they could not visit the hospital’s mortuary for 20 days

New Delhi: For the last 11 days, a family from east Delhi has been running from pillar to post in search for the body of a 38-year-old woman, who died of Covid-19 at Lok Nayak hospital on April 16, but her last rites could not be performed because all family members were also infected and they could not visit the hospital’s mortuary for 20 days.

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When the family members went to claim the body on May 7, it could not be found in the mortuary. They approached the police and filed a complaint on May 10, alleging that the body was misplaced and the hospital authorities have no answers to how the corpse disappeared from the mortuary.

“We are taking a legal opinion on the family’s complaint. The hospital authorities are also conducting an enquiry. We are waiting for their enquiry report also. Further legal action would be taken accordingly. The patient was taken to the hospital by family members but she was declared brought dead on April 16. Her family members were also Covid positive so they could not claim the body then,” said Rohit Meena, additional deputy commissioner of police (central).

Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director, Lok Nayak hospital, said. “A committee of three senior doctors, the additional medical superintendent, mortuary in-charge, and another senior doctor, has been set up to look into the matter. We will be able to tell what happened once the committee submits its report in a couple of days.”

The two brothers of the dead woman, Dipika, were present in the hospital when the doctors pronounced her dead and had seen her body while it was being shifted to the mortuary.

But the disappearance of her body has strangely led to some of her relatives believe that she could be alive.

“My parents and some relatives still believe that a miracle would happen and Dipika would return home alive. My heart also wishes for that miracle, even as my mind says she is gone,” said Dipika’s brother, Saurabh Kumar.

Dipika lived with her parents and brothers at their Shastri Nagar home near Geeta Colony in east Delhi. She ran a consultancy firm along with her brother Siddharth Kumar. The coronavirus hit the family in the first week of April.

According to Kumar, his parents were shifted to a private hospital in east Delhi but she could not get a bed in at least four local hospitals because of the huge rush of patients. Dipika got a bed in a private non-Covid hospital in Noida but as her Covid test report came positive and her condition was deteriorating, she was referred to any Covid hospital, he said.

“We brought her to Lok Nayak hospital. The doctors declared her brought dead. Her body was shifted to the mortuary and we were asked to claim it in two-three days. But we could not come as all of us were Covid positive and our condition was not good,” said Kumar.

The parents recovered and returned home on April 23, but the two brothers informed them about Dipika’s death only on May 4, as they did not want to give them a shock. The elderly couple then asked their sons to claim her body and perform the last rites.

“We went to the hospital mortuary on May 7 and received Dipika’s death certificate. The hospital staff asked us to visit the mortuary and identify my sister’s body, as that was the last opportunity to see her face. Many bodies were shown to us but none of them was of my sister. Her corpse was missing. They sought time to look into the matter and asked us to come two-three days later,” he said.

The family members visited the hospital again on May 10. When they were told that the body could be found, they filed a police complaint.

“We first lost our sister and now because of the hospital’s mistake we are not able to perform her last rites. The hospital authorities say that there was a possibility that some other family may have cremate my sister’s body. I want them to find that family so that we can thank them for performing her last rites. But the authorities are not able to find the family as well,” added Kumar.

According to another doctor from the hospital, “It is not unusual for family members to not claim bodies of people who die of Covid-19. In such instances, the hospital ensures that the cremation is done. In this case, the family came looking for the body almost a month after the demise.”