Mumbai: Old age home senior’s last rites delayed over ‘custodial death’ tag

Can the death of an elderly person living in a private old age home be termed as ldquocustodial deathrdquo This issue cropped with the demise of an 82yearold man at BYL Nair hospital on Monday as the forensic surgeon tagged the death as ldquocustodial deathrdquo and thereby insisted the body to be sent to Grant Medical College JJ Hospital for an autopsy under a magisterial inquest which made the relatives and police run from pillar to post delaying cremation by almost a dayJayram Desale a Virar East resident was admitted at Nair Hospital on Sunday in a comatose state and was declared dead on Monday around 10 am Since the patient lost his life while undergoing treatment for less than 24 hours the treating doctor could not certify the cause of death and referred the body to be treated as ldquomedico legal caserdquo to the hospital postmortem centreDesale lived in an old age home in Virar East for over two yearsThe hospital issued the death intimation report to Agripada police following which subinspector Narayan Anbhule recorded statements of the deceasedrsquos son a BMC employee As Desalersquos relatives did not suspect foul play the police were about to register an accidental death case under section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure CrPCldquoWhile we were awaiting the preliminary cause of death certificate for issuing the requisite forms for transportation and cremation of the body we received a call from the deceasedrsquos relative that the autopsy surgeon at Nair Hospital advised to take the body to JJ Hospital for autopsy saying it was a case of custodial deathrdquo said a police officer He added ldquoWe were told the autopsy has to be done at JJ Hospital and that they have to get the inquest done under section 176 of CrPCrdquoSpeaking to midday Desalersquos daughterinlaw Tanvi said ldquoHe had been living in Second Innings House Ganeshpuri for over two years The old age home had been taking good care of him Two months ago he fell and fractured his left hand We had consulted many doctors who said due to advanced age it would not be advisable to operate on him Then last weekend we were told he was unconscious and taken to a private hospitalrdquoldquoIt was only when the body was referred to the postmortem centre that we found they hospital were treating it as a police case after we informed them about his fall two months agordquo said Tanvi ldquoThe police are not at fault it is all because of Nair hospitalrdquo she said referring to the delay in getting the bodyA senior doctor attached to the hospital said ldquoSince the deceasedrsquos relative mentioned the history of fall it was bound to raise concern We had an instance in the past where relatives of a deceased had questioned the autopsy surgeon of not seeking magisterial inquest for their family member who lived in an old age homerdquoUsually deaths inside police lock up prison homes for children etc where inmates are sent by a magistrate are considered custodial death When asked if it was right to term this case as custodial death the doctor remained noncommittalOn Tuesday the investigating officer visited Tehsildar office at Old Custom House and was informed verbally that the matter falls under Section 174 of CrPC and not 176 Following this the police officer and relatives requested the autopsy surgeon at JJ Hospital to conduct the postmortem accordingly The surgeon ruled out foul play and termed pneumonia and infected kidney as cause of deathOther sidemidday learnt from reliable sources that the doctor concerned was recently posted in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair HospitalWhen contacted Dr Pawan Sabale head of the department at the hospital said ldquoIt was an interpretation issue wherein the autopsy forensic surgeon was of the opinion that the case would fall under the ambit of lsquocustodial deathrsquo We had asked the investigating police officer to take superiors and public prosecutors opinion on the same and if they differed and gave it in writing we were willing to conduct the autopsy under section 174 of CrPCrdquoDr Shailesh Mohite former head of the department at the hospital said ldquoIn this case it is clearly indicates that lack of knowledge and lack of coordination between the police and autopsy surgeon led to unwarranted hassles which could have been avoidedrdquoLegal expert speakAdvocate Rajeshwar Panchal said ldquoThis case shocks the human conscience as the dead body was being kept without any dignified final rites or rituals Moreover it was being done under absolutely fallacious understanding of lawrdquo