Mumbai: 72-year-old found dead in KEM loo, family alleges cover up

A visit to KEM Hospital ended miserably for a 72yearold who got locked inside a toilet by careless staff for a full 15 hours and was found dead when the lock was opened the next day For his family too it was a wretched 15 hours as they searched high and low for the senior citizen only to learn that he had died alone in the loo with no food water or anyone to call for help Already incensed by the hospitalrsquos negligence the family was even more shocked that the body had been moved and the toilet cleaned before the police could get thereAlso Read Visually impaired immobile 77yrold woman found dead in parking lotDattatray Kamble above his family members mourn at their Currey Road home PicSayed Sameer AbediDattatray Kamble 72 and his wife Sunanda had gone to the outpatient department OPD on Tuesday for a checkup at the nephrology section where she had undergone a kidney surgery two years ago After they went to the dispensary on the ground floor to pick up the medicines Dattatray told his wife that he had to attend naturersquos call This was around 430 pmDattatray Kamble 72 died of a brain haemorrhage while he was locked in the KEM Hospital toilet His body was found by the cleaners the next morningAt 630 pm he still hadnrsquot returned and Sunanda grew worried She called the family and told them about Dattatrayrsquos sudden disappearance after which they began a desperate search for him Dattatray was inside the toilet just a floor above but there was no way they could have found him there as the door had been locked from outsideDattatrayrsquos son Sunil recalled ldquoAs soon as we got to know we looked everywhere We went to OPD ward 102 where he had taken my mother for her checkup and we checked all the other wards but we couldnrsquot find him Eventually we thought he might return after a while and waited for 24 hours after which we would file a missing reportrdquoldquoIf only the person had checked inside the toilet before locking it my father couldrsquove been with me todayrdquo he saidHorrible timingAlthough the OPD is manned by seven nurses one matron nine safai kamgars and two security guards not one person checked to see whether the loo was empty before it was locked One of the security personnel confirmed that Dattatray had gone to the loo around the time the OPD was shutting down and the cleaner was about to start cleaning the menrsquos washroom ldquoThe safai kamgar told him that the OPD is shut but since Dattatray said that he wouldnrsquot take long he let him in He cleaned the rest of the washroom and once his duty hours were over he informed the nurse and left the wardrdquo said the BMCappointed security staffRead Story Body of unidentified woman turns up at BKCSources from the hospital confirmed that Dattatray was in the sole cubicle in the washroom so the nurse didnrsquot see him inside Since the cleaner had left the nurse assumed the toilet was empty and he locked the toilet and the ward around 5 pm and leftIt was at 730 the next morning that the hospital authorities found Dattatrayrsquos lifeless body on the toilet floor The cleaning staff was the first on the scene They entered the loo and found the cubicle lockedThe onduty cleaner told midday that he waited for 15 minutes but when nobody responded to his calls and knocks he stepped up on a chair and peeked into the loo and saw Dattatray on the floorldquoWe then used a long stick to open the latch from inside We realised he was probably dead we carried him down to the casualty ward where he was pronounced deadrdquo said a staff memberCleanup jobJust the presence of his body in the toilet showed shocking negligence by the hospital but the staff went a step further By the time the Bhoiwada police officials got there the body had already been taken out and the washroom had been washed and cleaned leaving them no way to study the scene of his deathStaff members even used Dattatrayrsquos mobile phone to call the last dialled number which connected them to his brother in Mulund This was how the family learnt of his death at 745 am yesterday and realised that Dattatray had even tried calling his brother for help while he was stuck but there was no networkldquoThere was no network inside the washroom and my father tried calling but he couldnrsquot reach us I can only imagine the helplessness of a 72yearold man trapped insiderdquo said a tearyeyed SunilThe Bhoiwada police registered an Accidental Death Report ADR but the family alleged his death was no accident but was caused by KEMrsquos negligence which they then tried to cover upSunil further alleged that they were even asked to get a death certificate from a private doctor so that the body wouldnrsquot be sent for postmortem ldquoWhy would we need a certificate from a private doctor when my father died inside the hospital completely due to the negligence of the staff members It is completely outrageous that the staff didnrsquot even check the washrooms before locking it not bothered if there is someone insiderdquo said SunilThe investigating officer API S Dombare said that KEM dean Dr Avinash Supe had confirmed there was negligence on the hospitalrsquos part and said the police will take necessary action