New Delhi: Kalamuddin Rahim wept until he was breathless outside the Maulana Azad Medical College mortuary Sunday, which falls under the ambit of the larger LNJP Hospital.
He had just discovered that the body he buried the previous day was not that of his father Moinuddin, but that of another man called Moinuddin, from a different family altogether.
“The face was swollen and had blood stains on it. When I asked the doctors, they said it was because he had undergone dialysis. We accepted the body hurriedly because he was a Covid-19 patient,” Kalamuddin told ThePrint between sobs.
Kalamuddin’s father Moinuddin was 65 years old, and was admitted to the LNJP Hospital on 2 June after complaining of breathlessness. Kalamuddin was informed by hospital authorities that his father had died and was asked to identify the body Saturday, 6 June.
“I didn’t immediately recognise the body because the face was clean shaven and swollen, but the name was the same on the death certificate, so we went ahead with the burial,” said Kalamuddin.
But to his horror, he was called back to the hospital Sunday to identify a second body. “The face of the body I saw today is without a doubt my father’s,” said Kalamuddin, breaking down.
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The other Moinuddin
The other Moinuddin’s family had gathered at Maulana Azad mortuary Sunday morning at 9 am, after being informed by the hospital the previous evening that they could collect his body. This Moinuddin was 50 years old, and his brothers began organising his funeral at the Jadid Kabristan Saturday evening.
Moinuddin was admitted to the hospital on 4 June due to high blood pressure, and died the same day. The hospital had conducted a Covid-19 test, and informed the family that the body could not be released till the test results came out.
“We came here to get his ECG done and they also did a Covid-19 test. The test result came out positive yesterday evening, so they called us to collect the body. But the body was not ours. When we told the hospital, they told us that our body had already been claimed,” said Eijaazuddin, this Moinuddin’s brother.
“We got in touch with the other family somehow and asked them to send a picture of the body they buried yesterday,” he added, indicating Kalamuddin. “They buried him in Jadid Kabristan when we were there, preparing to receive his body.”
Eijaazuddin added: “When we saw the picture, we realised the body was ours. Now they’re telling us to reach a compromise with the other family. Is the hospital not responsible at all?”
Hospital pins responsibility on first family
Dr Amandeep Kaur, officer-in-charge at the mortuary, said the mix-up occurred because the family wrongly identified the body.
“They were called in by someone from the main hospital. The identification number, name, and other details of the body were written correctly by us. When the family came, they wrongly identified the body and proceeded with the burial,” she said. “They claimed the body yesterday, so we let it go with them.”
Families reconcile
With no other option, the families of two Moinuddins’ reconciled, and Kalamuddin conducted a second funeral Sunday afternoon.
The graves of both Moinuddins are next to each other at the Jadid Kabristan in ITO.
As the body of Kalamuddin’s father was lowered into the grave, Eijaazuddin placed a small plant at his brother’s grave.
Kalamuddin folded his hands and begged forgiveness of Eijaazuddin, who told him: “It was a mistake. Don’t worry brother.”
The mix-up is the latest sign of Delhi’s growing Covid-19 crisis and pressure on its health infrastructure. As on 6 June, the number of cases and deaths stood at 27,654 and 761 respectively.
Private hospitals have been ordered to reserve 20 per cent of their beds for Covid-19 patients, and amid reports that patients were struggling to get beds, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced Saturday that hospitals could not turn away suspected patients.
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