In a shocking case of alleged negligence at a hospital in Delhi, a family cremated the wrong body, mistaking it for their relative. The mix-up took place when two bodies reached the hospital’s mortuary at the same time, leading to a family member identifying the wrong body. While a formal complaint has not been received yet, the matter is under investigation.
The incident took place in Delhi’s Nangloi area, where a family mistakenly cremated the wrong body on Friday. The bodies of Pankaj Kumar, a resident of Prem Nagar and Bharat Bhushan from Nangloi were brought at the same time, as per PTI sources.
The body of Pankaj Kumar, who died after falling from a terrace and sustaining fatal injuries, was kept at the mortuary for post-mortem examination, while the body of Bharat Bhusan was brought for autopsy. According to a source, two bodies were brought to the hospital’s mortuary on Thursday.
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It is alleged that the family members of Bharat Bhushan mistakenly identified the body of Pankaj Kumar as that of their relatives. After the post-mortem, they completed the formalities, claimed the body and performed the last rites.
The mix-up came to light when Pankaj Kumar’s family reached the hospital to collect his body. However, there was only one body at the mortuary, the body of Bharat Bhusan. The relatives raised objections as it was the wrong body. They alleged serious negligence on the part of the hospital in handling the bodies, claiming that a proper identification process was not ensured by the hospital before handing the bodies.
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As per sources, a formal written complaint has not been filed yet, but the matter is under investigation. “We are verifying the sequence of events and questioning the hospital staff to ascertain whether due procedures were followed,” the source said.
Further legal action will be taken once the inquiry is complete, the source added.
In a similar incident in August, a Bengaluru-based tech worker’s body was mistakenly swapped in Odisha during transportation, allegedly due to a labelling error.