Private hospital refuses to release Covid victim’s body for three days; Pune admin launches inquiry

Pune: A private hospital in rural parts of Pune has come under fire from the relatives of a Covid-19 deceased person

Pune: A private hospital in rural parts of Pune has come under fire from the relatives of a Covid-19 deceased person. The relatives complained that the hospital held back the body of the deceased for over three days and kept it in the morgue. Following the complaints raised by the relatives and the local MP, the district administration has launched an inquiry.

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The district administration has formed an eight-member committee chaired by civic surgeon Dr Ashok Nandapurkar. The committee would visit the hospital on Tuesday.

Dr Nandapurkar said, “The hospital is a private medical college and we got the complaint that the patient died due to Covid-19 on May 1. The body was discharged three days later. We will visit the hospital on Tuesday and investigate.”

Member of Parliament, Shrirang Barne, said, “I got a call that the hospital, Maharashtra Institute of Medical Education and Research or MIMER, refused to release the body for three days due to pending bill. The deceased was a vegetable vendor and bills were to be cleared through MPJAY (Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana) which was not done because the hospital had not informed the authorities about the death. I reached the hospital and the authorities later handed over the body.”