The Delhi Police is going to register a case against Dr lC Gupta, Head of Department, Subzi Mandi Mortuary, under Section 297 (offering any indignity to any human corpse) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly disrespecting human bodies. According to police, denying post-mortem, Gupta had thrown away 26 unidentified bodies out of the mortuary on March 5. Police has also sought suggestions from lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung over the issue.
The matter that also reached the Delhi Government, last week, was revealed after a police officer took a body for post-mortem examination and the mortuary administration refused to accept the body. The officer was told that the morgue has no space to keep more bodies. Around 5 pm, they also dumped 26 unclaimed or unidentified bodies, which were to be examined, on the footpath outside the morgue.
The scene outside the mortuary triggered anger in the locality and they made a PCR (police control room) call and also protested. left with no other option, the police later cremated the bodies at Nigambodh Ghat. The bodies were collected from various places in Kashmere Gate area in Central Delhi. Most of them belonged to street dwellers or vagabonds who had died natural deaths.
According to a police officer, the unclaimed bodies are kept for at least three days for identification and post-mortem examination, after which they are cremated. However, the morgue authorities claimed that the police left the bodies without informing them. Police on its part said the delay might have taken place in preparing the papers.
In a letter to the lt Governor, Delhi Police said that Dr lC Gupta has paid no heed to the police officer when they tried to approach him after the incident. Gupta has also not showed any interest in conducting post-mortem on the unclaimed bodies. The letter said: “the corpses were thrown out the morgue which causes disrespect and insult to the dead bodies.”
Police said they were also taking the legal opinion into the matter and a case under the Section 297 of IPC will be registered soon. An officer told The Pioneer, if the case would register, it will be apparently a second such case registered in the history of Delhi Police for disrespecting the human bodies. In early 90s, a case under similar section was registered in west Delhi for sexually assaulting the body of a female. “In this case, the bodies were thrown out showing disrespect towards them,” said the officer. Delhi Health Minister Satendra Jain had also ordered an inquiry into the matter.