Following outrage over the body of a man kept in the open at the mortuary of Raipur's Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, the hospital has urged the District Collector to tell the police to take charge of unclaimed bodies.
After a video of the body lying unattended in rain surfaced, the hospital had said the responsibility to take care of unclaimed bodies was with the group which cremates them which it said was not done in this case.
“In the letter detailed information about the inhumane behavior meted out to the body of an unidentified man by ‘Moksh Sharadhanjali Sansatha’ on July 15 was mentioned,” a press release from the hospital said.
The Collector was informed that unidentified bodies brought for postmortem at Ambedkar Hospital are handed over to concerned police stations which then cremate them.
The Head of Department (Forensics) at the Ambedkar Hospital said that police get the bodies cremated through ‘Moksha Shradhanjali Sanstha’. "The organization's behavior was always intrusive," a press release from the hospital said.
Under the cover of Moksha Shradhanjali Sanstha, several unauthorized persons used to enter the mortuary and perform unauthorized videography which, from a medico-legal point, is a hurdle, the release added.
Pointing to lack of space for keeping bodies, the hospital has requested the District Collector to ask police to make arrangements for cremating such bodies.