Corpse found outside private hospital, authorities booked for negligence

A private hospital based in Sector 33 was booked by the Noida police on Tuesday for allegedly mishandling the corpse of a security guard.

A private hospital based in Sector 33 was booked by the Noida police on Tuesday for allegedly mishandling the corpse of a security guard.

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On Monday afternoon, the body of a man in his late thirties was found right outside the gate of the hospital creating panic among the locals. A police team reached the spot along with personal from the health department. The body was first taken to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences, Greater Noida after which it was taken to the mortuary for an autopsy. The reason behind the death is yet to be ascertained, the police said.

The deceased was later identified as Devanand Bhagat who worked as a security guard in Noida. The 35-year-old man was from Bihar and lived in Noida by himself in a rented house.

According to police officers, the district health department held an inquiry in the matter and then submitted a complaint to the police.

“The district magistrate had ordered an inquiry in the matter after which the chief medical officer launched a probe. Based on the findings of the health department and the complaint submitted by them, an FIR has been registered against the hospital,” Sankalp Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (zone 1), said.

Police officers said Bhagat’s samples have been sent to be tested against coronavirus disease (Covid-19), but the tests report is awaited. The autopsy can be only conducted after the test report come. They added that the cause of death will be ascertained following the autopsy, though there were no external injury marks on the body.

It appears that either the man had gone to the hospital for treatment and was denied aid after which he died outside the hospital or he died during treatment and his body was kept outside by the hospital staff to avoid any kind of responsibility, they said.

“The incident is being probed for now. We have contacted his family members in Bihar who have confirmed that he was not keeping well for a few days. Anything beyond that can only be established after the investigation,” said DCP Sharma.

The police also said as the incident was a matter of medical negligence, the CMO will further conduct an investigation to determine what action is to be taken against the hospital, and a committee has been formed for this purpose. They added that if the man is found to be positive for Covid-19, the hospital will be responsible for endangering the lives of others as well.

“It seems that the man died outside the hospital in question and according to the initial inquiry, the hospital had mistreated his body after which we filed a complaint with the police,” said Dr Shachindri Mishra, medical officer, community health center (CHC), Bisrakh who is also the complainant in the case.

Based on his complaint, a case was registered against the hospital administration at Sector 24 police station under sections 304A (causing death by negligence) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code.

Neither the administration of the hospital nor the CMO could be reached for comment.