HYDERABAD: After the horrendous incident of a body at the Osmania General Hospital mortuary becoming unfit for postmortem examination because it was mutilated, Express has learnt that the hospital has just five of the nine cold storage units for bodies functioning. It also came to light that the state government has not yet responded to the hospital’s request for four more cold storage units, even though it has been eight months since the request was made. The superintendent of the hospital has appointed a four-member panel to inquire into the mutilation of the body.
The mortuary campus is often found to be stinking with bodies and personnel working there say bodies pile up for want of cold storage units. Speaking to Express, Dr Taqiuddin Khan, head of the department of forensic medicine, said, “After bodies are brought into the mortuary, we keep them aside for examination. Only after the PME is conducted are bodies moved to freezers. Bodies that reach the mortuary after office hours are kept in the freezers for postmortem examination on the following day.
“The freezers should be in a good working condition with the required cooling. Else, the bodies might decompose. The budget for mortuary equipment repairs has to be sanctioned by the hospital superintendent,” he said. When contacted, hospital superintendent Dr B Narendar said the issue had come to his knowledge only on Wednesday. “A four-member committee led by RMO and civil surgeon Dr Padma has been appointed to inquire into the incident,” he said but denied that four of the cold storage units were dysfunctional.
“In the mortuary, all nine cold storage units are in good working condition. We have requested the government to provide four more units. There is no scope for rodents in a mortuary and the bodies are kept in cold storage units,” he claimed and asked officials to ensure that such incidents do not recur.
It was reported in these columns that there was a crying need for the mortuary to be revamped, starting with construction of walk-in cold storage units to ensure dead bodies are preserved well for post-mortem examination and to avoid any hampering of legal examination of a person’s death. The issues were also brought to the notice of former superintendents of the hospital, some doctors told Express.
According to sources in the hospital, there are open drains inside the mortuary and the outlets are not sealed. “This makes it easy for rodents to enter the mortuary through the drains. Now, one can find them in unused embalming tank, puff room (where bodies are kept) and even in cold storage containers,” the sources said. It was reported that the existing cold storage units may not be running at required temperature of 4 degrees Celsius.
SHRC seeks report on rodent-eaten body
Hyderabad: Based on media reports about the body of a 22-year-old woman, which was found with her nose mutilated in the OGH’s mortuary on Tuesday, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has sought a report from the hospital and also from the principal secretary (health and family welfare) in a week’s time. In its direction the commission stated that it had examined media reports of negligence of the forensic department and the hospital superintendent. It has demanded that a report be submitted to the Commission on December 28 by 10:30 am.