Delhi morgue casts out 29 bodies none claimed

NEW DELHI: It seems even death did not grant these 29 people the respect they deserved. Their unclaimed bodies were dumped on the footpath outside Sabzi Mandi mortuary on Thursday evening following a dispute between police and morgue authorities. The bodies were later taken away by police and cremated at Nigambodh Ghat.
The bodies were collected from various places around Kashmere Gate in the past one month.Most are unidentified or belong to street-dwellers who died of natural causes. As is the usual practice, they were kept at Sabzi Mandi mortuary for identification after post-mortem. A police officer explained the bodies are kept for 30 days after which they are cremated.
Morgue authorities, however, claimed that police left the bodies with them for the past 40-52 days without telling them when they would be removed. On Thursday, the morgue authorities called Civil Lines police and asked them to cremate them. Dr L C Gupta, in-charge of Sabzi Mandi mortuary, said 52 unclaimed bodies have been lying with him for over 10 days. "Eight bodies have been here for more than 40 days. There was risk of diseases spreading," said Dr Gupta. He claimed the bodies were handed over to police following due procedure.
However, a dispute arose when policemen sought time to complete paperwork. An ACP-rank officer must clear bodies for disposal. However, the morgue authorities allegedly refused to allow police the time.
An officer said that, while the papers were being prepared, the morgue authorities left the bodies on the footpath outside the mortuary and asked them to take them away immediately. Eyewitnesses claim that all of them were decomposed and emanating a foul smell. They were taken away in a police truck an hour later.
"We are looking into why the morgue took such a drastic step. Why weren't we informed beforehand if the bodies were to be taken out?" DCP (North) Madhur Verma said. Police said they might act against officials of the mortuary under relevant sections of law for disrespecting a human corpse.
Meanwhile, the scene outside the mortuary angered locals who staged a protest. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain ordered an inquiry into the matter. "There were many bodies lying in the mortuary for more than 3-4 weeks. Unclaimed bodies have to be disposed of in 72 hours. The mortuary in-charge told me after several reminders police finally came to pick up the bodies on Thursday," Jain said. He, however, added that though there may have been delay in collection of the bodies leading to chaos, the matter has been sorted out.