Body of Vijayawada man who went 'missing' in COVID hospital was in mortuary for a week

The One Town Police, who registered a case on June 29, questioned the hospital staff, and on checking CCTV footage from the institute, found that Vasanta Rao’s body was in the mortuary.
Representational Image (Express Illustration)
Representational Image (Express Illustration)

VIJAYAWADA: The 63-year-old man who was reported missing from a COVID-19 State Hospital in Vijayawada was found dead on Friday. His body was traced to the hospital mortuary, exposing the negligence of the staff. The body had been in the morgue for a week.

T Vasanta Rao, a resident of Pujarivari Street in One Town area of Vijayawada, had gone missing from the New Government General Hospital, where he was taken to on June 24.

The One Town Police, who registered a case on June 29, questioned the hospital staff, and on checking CCTV footage from the institute, found that Vasanta Rao’s body was in the mortuary. They said the staff had entered his name as Venkateswara Rao instead of Vasanta Rao, causing much agony to his wife Dhanalakshmi.

"During our probe with the hospital staff, we learnt that the man succumbed to illness early on June 25 and the body was sent to the morgue. Initially, the hospital staff took him near the outpatient ward to enter his details. The staff then asked Dhanalakshmi to bring Rao’s Aadhaar card and return the next day to complete the formalities," a police official said. When Dhanalakshmi returned with the Aadhaar card on June 25, the doctors initially claimed there was no person admitted there named Vasanta Rao.

She then lodged a missing complaint with the police as she was not informed about her husband’s death, the official explained. "During our investigation, the hospital staff said an elderly man was brought in but there were no admission records. We went through CCTV footage and inquired with the staff who were working on June 24 morning, and found that the body was in the mortuary for more than a week," he said.

Collector orders probe into patient’s death

Collector A Md Imtiaz appointed sub-collector HM Dhanachandra as inquiry officer to probe the death of the elderly man and submit a detailed report. Vasantha Rao had tested negative for coronavirus, and was taken to the hospital for respiratory problems

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