E-Paper
Odisha Covid-19 patient goes missing from hospital, cremated without family’s knowledge
After testing positive for Covid-19, the man was admitted to the Covid Care Centre in Dhenkanal town on September 29.
A 70-year-old man in Odisha, who had tested positive for Covid-19, went missing after being admitted in a Covid hospital. The deceased’s family members have alleged that he was cremated without their knowledge.
Duryodhan Behera, 45, of Barda village in Dhenkanal district had suffered chest pains on September 28 after which his family members rushed him to Dhenkanal district headquarters hospital for treatment. After testing positive for Covid-19, Behera was admitted to the Covid Care Centre in Dhenkanal town on September 29.
However, his son Pradipta Behera, who visited the Covid centre the next day to give him some personal articles, was told that his father had been shifted to SCB Covid-19 hospital in Cuttack with another patient on the night of September 29.
The nightmares of Behera family was about to begin as they ran from pillar to post to get information about him.
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“I visited all Covid-19 hospitals in Cuttack from October 1, including the SCB Covid Isolation Center, but all of them denied receiving any such patient. I then contacted the Dhenkanal district collector who advised me to meet the chief district medical officer. I met CDMO Sujatarani Mishra who asked me to visit SCB Covid-19 hospital in Cuttack,” said Pradipta Behera.
The family waited for the next two weeks and finally decided to complain against the Dhenkanal CDMO and the district magistrate at the town police station on October 16. Soon after the FIR, a medical team was sent to Cuttack on October 17 and all records were checked with Mangalabag police station under which the SCB Medical College and Hospital falls. The Mangalabag police station informed the Dhenkanal town police station that Behera has been cremated on October 7 after his body was kept in the mortuary of the SCB hospital for 3 days as an unidentified body.
Alleging gross negligence by the authorities, Behera’s son said the ambulance carrying his father and another Covid-19 patient from Dhenkanal to Cuttack left both patients outside the SCB Covid Isolation Centre. “The second patient was admitted to the Covid isolation centre in SCB Medical College and Hospital as he had an attendant. There was no one to attend my father. He died outside the isolation centre unclaimed and unidentified and was later cremated. This is gross negligence,” said Pradipta Behera.
“We had sent Behera to the Covid isolation ward in Cuttack. What can we do if the driver of the vehicle left him outside the isolation ward?” asked Dhenkanal CDMO Sujatarani Mishra. Bhubanananda Maharana, emergency officer of SCB Medical College and Hospital, said they would have known about Behera had he been admitted to the isolation ward. “It was the driver’s fault. He should have admitted the patient to the ward,” he said.
The brother-in-law of the deceased however accused the officials in Dhenkanal of gross negligence. “Without informing us, they took my brother-in-law from Dhenkanal to SCB Hospital. While the government claims to be doing so much for Covid patients, why did they act irresponsibly? Strict action needs to be taken against those responsible,” said Suresh Behera, Duryodhana’s brother-in-law.
