Family of dead woman handed over man's body

New Delhi: The bereaved family of a woman, who died of a liver ailment at Fortis Hospital in Noida Sector-62, were in for a shock after the hospital handed them over an unidentified man's body wrapped in a white cloth.

Sources said that when the family rushed to the hospital to rectify the mix-up, initially the hospital refused to accept its mistake and blamed the woman's family, source added. However, the matter was soon resolved after the hospital authorities accepted their mistake and returned 54-year-old Bala Devi's body to her family.

On August 18, Bala Devi, a resident of Mahawad village in Uttar Pradesh, was admitted for a liver infection at Fortis Hospital, where she died on Saturday.

Her family then collected her body and went to her home in Dadri. However, they reached home, the family found that instead of Devi, the hospital staff handed them over a man's body in an ambulance.

Sources said the family immediately informed the hospital, and sent the ambulance back with the man's body.

A spokesperson of the hospital said, "On August 18, within a gap of approximately 15 minutes, two adult patients, one male and one female, breathed their last, despite the best care and treatment, at Fortis Hospital, Noida. During the final hand over formalities, in spite of our mortuary official's advice, the family of one of the deceased patients failed to physically verify the identity, as per the established protocol."

"As a result the male patient's body was taken by the family instead. The error was identified soon and was immediately rectified. The hospital authorities have taken necessary steps to prevent such incidents in future," the spokesperson added.

Though the hospital has claimed that there was a mistake on the part of the woman's family in identifying her body, the kin have claimed that the mix-up occurred due to the hospital's carelessness.