Family members of a COVID-19 victim realised at the time of cremation that the Health authorities had delivered an unknown body. Sangeetha, wife of the victim Balakrishnan (45) of Karikadu near Pattukottai, complained that she had received the body of an unknown person from the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
Balakrishnan was admitted at the Government Hospital, Pattukottai, on May 1, and was shifted to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital where he died on May 6.
Only, when the family members removed the cloth that covered the corpse to perform some rituals at the burial ground that they found it to be of an unknown person. They then surrendered the body to the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital.
The hospital authorities have promised to trace Balakrishnan’s body and hand it over to the family. However, till Monday they did not get the body.
When contacted, senior hospital authorities admitted that there was a lapse on the part of lower-level staff and that efforts were on to trace the victim's body.
Meanwhile, Muthukumar, a social activist in Thanjavur, deplored the practice of handing over the bodies of COVID victims to their families, ignoring the inherent danger of causing further spread of the virus.
Published - May 10, 2021 07:30 pm IST
