Body Of COVID-19 Positive Woman Goes Missing From Hospital Mortuary, Bereaved Kin Files Complaint

A man has filed a police complaint alleging that the body of his 38-year-old sister, who died of COVID-19 a month ago, has been missing from a hospital mortuary in India’s capital New Delhi.

According to a report in India Today, the family lodged a case against Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital after the latter couldn't locate the body of one Deepika, a month after her death at the facility. The woman died in April but the incident came to light only after May 7 when the deceased’s brother, Siddhartha, went to the hospital to collect her body.

Siddhartha filed the case with the police after the hospital failed to hand over Deepika's body to her family. Though an investigation was launched into the case, police are still clueless as to what happened to the woman's body.

According to the family’s complaint, Deepika was first admitted to a hospital in the city of Noida. She tested positive for COVID-19 on April 15 after which, hospital authorities urged the family to move her to a dedicated COVID-19 facility. After trying for a day, Siddhartha managed to get her into LNJP Hospital. However, the woman died on April 16 after her condition worsened.

The hospital authorities then asked Siddhartha to come back after two three days to collect his sister’s body. However, he and his family tested positive for the virus on April 19, and had to be isolated. They could not visit the hospital’s mortuary for 20 days.

On May 7, when Siddhartha visited the hospital to collect the body, the authorities couldn't locate it in the mortuary. Despite hours of search, there was no trace of the body. Hospital authorities sent him back home, saying that he would be informed as soon as his sister’s body is found.

After no word from the hospital, the deceased woman’s family members approached the police and filed the complaint on May 10. They alleged that the body was misplaced, and the authorities had no answers to how the corpse disappeared from the mortuary.

Meanwhile, police said they have sought a legal opinion on the family's complaint.

"We are taking a legal inquiry on the family’s complaint. The hospital authorities are also conducting an enquiry. We are waiting for their report also. Further legal action would be taken accordingly. The patient was taken to the hospital by family members but was declared 'brought dead' on April 16. Her family members were also COVID positive so they could not claim the body then," Rohit Meena, a senior police official, told Hindustan Times.

The LNJP Hospital, one of the prominent dedicated COVID-19 centers in Delhi, has been overwhelmed by the number of cases. Last year, it courted controversy after footage showed a man lying without clothes on the ground in the hospital. The video had also shown dead bodies lying unattended next to COVID-19 patients.