Caught in a row, AIIMS-Patna revises man’s death certificate, drops spouse name

The Hindustan Times had reported it (titled “AIIMS-Patna| Two death certificates for one man: Families fight over Covid ex gratia after wife’s name revised), in its Patna edition dated February 10, following which the state government ordered an inquiry the next day.

Caught in a row after conflicting claims for ex gratia meant for Covid-19 victims, Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Tuesday evening cancelled the two death certificates issued for the same man, with different names of spouse on each, and issued one afresh without mentioning the name of wife, father of the deceased said.

The AIIMS building in Patna. (HT Photo)

Rajeev Kumar Nirala, who allegedly married two women, died of coronavirus at the AIIMS on October 22, 2020. The hospital issued a death certificate initially on November 5, 2020, mentioning Prachi Priya as the wife, but revised it six days later, mentioning Puja Kumari as the spouse of the deceased.

The Hindustan Times had reported it (titled “AIIMS-Patna| Two death certificates for one man: Families fight over Covid ex gratia after wife’s name revised), in its Patna edition dated February 10, following which the state government ordered an inquiry the next day. The inquiry team is set to visit AIIMS on February 17.

Nirala’s father Janardan Prasad had, in November 2022, challenged the death certificate after he came to know that the one issued to him, mentioning Prachi Priya as his daughter-in-law, had been revised without his consent and the name of Nirala’s spouse changed in it.

“Kumari, on the basis of the death certificate, and her Aadhaar, which allegedly mentions Nirala as her husband, had fraudulently claimed the state government’s ex gratia of ₹4 lakh to the next of kin of the Covid-19 deceased. We got to know about it only through an RTI petition to the block office of Karai Parsurai block in Nalanda district,” said Prasad.

Kumari, on the other hand, has denied any unfair means to claim the Covid-19 compensation.

“The Nirala family cheated me by concealing the fact that he was married. He stayed with me after our marriage in 2016. My brother Rahul Dev Barman and I were instrumental in supporting his treatment at AIIMS between October 4 and 22, 2020, and spent lakhs of rupees. We even received his body for cremation. I have two children out of my marital alliance with Nirala. In order to prove their paternity, I am even willing to subject my three-and-a-half year old son, Gopal Krishna Nirala, to a DNA test and match it with his grandmother,” said Kumari.