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Bengaluru: Covid patients’ bodies found in morgue 15 months later
The bodies were discovered when a foul smell at the ESI hospital mortuary led hospitalworkers on Saturdayto open the freezers, said officials of the health department.
Health officials in Bengaluru recovered two decomposing bodies from an old mortuary in the city’s Rajajinagar on Saturday.
According to their death certificates, the two people died of Covid-19 in July last year.
The bodies were discovered when a foul smell at the ESI hospital mortuary led hospitalworkers on Saturdayto open the freezers, said officials of the health department.
The mortuary was put out of use in August 2021,since a new mortuary was operational, according to the officials. The freezers, however, are still functional.
The name tags on the bodies identified the people as Durga, 40, and Maniraju, 50, said the officials.
According to ESI hospital records, both were brought to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms in July 2020. Both of them died the same month.
Durga’s elder sister Sujatha said that she died four days after being taken to the hospital. “After she died hospital authorities said that they won’t hand over the body to use because of the guidelines. Two days later we got a call saying they had cremated her body,” she said.
Maniraju’s son, Satish, said the hospital told them they would cremate the body according to guidelines. “When we asked them (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) for the body after his death, they said they will cremate the body. So, when we went to collect the death certificate, they asked to sign a document which said that government had performed the last rites,” he said.
At the peak of first wave of the pandemic last year, the BBMP took over some hospitals in the state and bodies were handed over to the families owing to infection risks. The families of the people who succumbed to the infection were assured the government would undertake the last rites.
According to the health department, the government hospital that comes under the labour department has two mortuaries. The old one could only store four bodies, while a newly constructed mortuary could accommodate 10 bodies. “During the peak of the pandemic, in 2020, both mortuaries were used to store bodies. Following the pandemic, in August 2021, the old mortuary was shut down for operations,” said the health department official.
A probe has been ordered to find out how the bodies were neglected for over a year, the official added.
“There is clear negligence from all those who were involved. The staff members who didn’t check freezers before the shutting down the facility to (medical) superintendent who is responsible for the incident, will be investigated,” said the official, who didn’t want to be named.
Rajajinagar police have registered a case under unnatural death and are probing the matter, said police officials. Police officials said that both bodies have been sent for postmortem and will be handed over to the families.
Rajajinagar BJP MLA and former minister S Suresh Kumar has written to Karnataka labour minister A Shivaram Hebbar requesting him to get the matter investigated and punish those responsible for the “inhuman incident”.
In his letter, Kumar said that during the first wave of Covid-19 two people died in the ESI Hospital in July 2020 and their bodies are still rotting in the mortuary of the hospital.
“The role of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanaara Palike and the ESI authorities is grave. In this regard, I request you order a high-level probe, get the detailed inquiry report and initiate stringent action against those who are responsible for this inhumane act,” Kumar wrote.
Kumar added that such incidents should never occur anywhere. “During the peak of COVID-19, we came across various heart-wrenching incidents but the incident that came to the light in the ESI Hospital is most unfortunate. It is the height of irresponsibility and inhuman behaviour,” Kumar wrote.
