27 August,2009 06:56 AM IST | | Ketan Ranga
Govtu00a0Mortuary caught in deadly trouble for loaning corpse to a medical workshop without permission.
There is a storm brewing at Rajawadi Hospital. And it is all over a dead body. Even as the police worked on tracking the relatives of the deceased, the unidentified corpse underwent a series of misadventures.
Timeline
On June 19, the Bombay Orthopaedic Society sent a letter to the police surgeon of Nagpada Police Hospital with a request for three bodies from Rajawadi Hospital by July 25 for an arthroscopy workshop at K B Bhabha Hospital in Kurla.
The letter was forwarded to Dr P Bagul, who is the in-charge of the mortuary at Rajawadi Hospital.
It was sent for postmortem and preservation to Rajawadi, while they worked on tracing her relatives.
On July 23, the Nehru Nagar police received a letter from Dr Bagul asking for the use of the same dead body for academic purpose.
However, as the police were searching for the relatives, they refused. They provided permission for another body that had been preserved for a long time instead.
Dr Bagul learnt that the police had refused permission on the night of July 24.
According to his associates, the body that the police had given permission for was too decomposed for the workshop. Hence, Bagul provided the new body to support a good cause.
The sources added that when the body was returned on the evening of July 25, the medical officer in charge refused to take the body, as it had been taken out without permission. It also bore scalpel marks on the lower limbs.
Anonymous letter
The matter snowballed from there and blew up when the police received an anonymous letter about it.
After receiving the letter, the police complained to the authorities at Nagpada Police Hospital and asked them to conduct another postmortem to find out if there had been any foul play and also investigate the people responsible for the act.
Prakash Kale, senior police inspector of the Nehru Nagar police, confirmed, "We came to know that the body was removed and forwarded the complaint to higher authorities. I cannot comment on it, as the matter is still under investigation."
In defence
Said Dr Bagul, "I cannot say anything now, as the investigations are on. It was all done in good faith."
Minister of State for Home Arif Naseem Khan said, "Yes, there was a complaint that a body was given to a medical institute without permission. The investigation is on and if anyone is found guilty, they will be punished."
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Learning experience: The body was sent for an arthroscopy workshop at K B Bhabha Hospital in Kurla at the request of the Bombay Orthopaedic Society. |
> Was any part of the body removed?
> On whose authority was the body moved?
> Who is responsible for the removal of the dead body from the PM centre?
> Who was in-charge when the body was removed and who took it?
> Where was the body taken?
> What was the date and time of removal of the body?
> When was the body brought back to the mortuary and who brought it back?
