Denying rights for decent last rites: Forensic experts want increase in manpower, upgrade in infra at mortuaries

Hyderabad: With a revolting incident of a dead body dumped carelessly in Jadcherla Government Hospital mortuary being nibbled by a stray coming to light recently, forensic experts have expressed their views that the state government must increase manpower and upgrade infrastructure in mortuaries, particularly in the new medical colleges coming up in the State. Instead, the government is making doctors scapegoats whenever any untoward incident happens, they suggested.

Experts opined that the mortuary facilities at government hospitals like Gandhi, Osmania and Kakatiya were among the best. They, however, said that the facilities at these hospitals, thought “corporate style”, lagged in the maintenance aspect. President of Telangana Academy of Forensic Medicine (TGAFM) president Dr B Vasanth Naik said that the government should focus on strengthening infrastructure.

Elaborating on the facilities, Dr Naik said that there should be a 24-hour mortuary. ‘Day light’ should be available even during the night-time; there should be adequate water flow, hydraulic post-mortem tables, proper drainage, exhausters and others. However, nowhere in Telangana all such facilities are available.

According to the experts, for a hospital, facilities like ICU, Operation Theatres are provided; in a similar manner, there should be a mortuary with decontamination. The hospital premises should be clean and green. However, in many of the mortuaries there is no proper ventilation, no instruments, no running water, etc. The government should provide proper infrastructure and then expect doctors to work effectively. However, “currently there is improper infrastructure, no vigil, no night duty staffers; and the scapegoat is a doctor, said a senior doctor from a government hospital.

For context, recently the state government suspended four persons, including the superintendent of the Jadcherla Government Hospital, where a man’s body was nibbled by a stray dog.

Giving an example, Dr Naik recalled that a few years back there was a complaint from the residents of Padmarao Nagar alleging that the freezers were not working. If there are proper facilities, there will be no such problem anywhere. He also said that the doctors were insufficient in the hospitals. In Gandhi and Osmania, there are 250 students. The staff pattern that was there ten years ago continues even now: like two professors, three associate professors and five assistant professors.

“Hospital-wise we are developing, but no proper infrastructure at dead body preservation. We need to respect the body. People come to see the body for one last time. We are unable to create facilities. With contamination and spread of infection, families of the staff are also getting affected,” said Dr Naik.

Mortuaries at Gandhi and Osmania Hospitals

According to a senior doctor who did not want to be quoted, Gandhi and Osmania had facilities but the dead body load was also more. In Gandhi, there are 30 freezer boxes and now eight more are going to be installed. In Gandhi, on an average about 20 cases are brought every day. Similarly, the Osmania General Hospital Mortuary has 62 freezer boxes and among these a few were installed a couple of years ago. On an average, 15 dead bodies are brought to the hospital every day. While the facility will be available round the clock, the post-mortem is carried out from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and in sensational cases, the post-mortem is done even during night-time.

The staff fix tags to the dead bodies: blue tag for the body of a Hindu and yellow tag for the body of a Muslim. The bodies are stored for a period of one week to 10 days and later the GHMC would dispose of the bodies as per the religious customs. Some voluntary organisations also perform the last rites.