MALAPPURAM: The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Monday registered a suo motu case in connection with the incident in which the body of a woman, who died of cancer, was stuffed in the boot of a car and taken to Maharashtra as her husband reportedly could not mobilise required money to pay for an ambulance.
Taking suo motu cognizance based on news reports, SHRC sought detailed inquiry reports from Malappuram District Collector and the superintendent, Manjeri Medical College Hospital within three weeks. SHRC member K Mohan Kumar said “It is learnt from media reports that though the relatives of the deceased had approached the hospital authorities and others requesting free ambulance service to transport the body, none of them helped the family. They were very poor and the incident amounts to gross violation of human rights.” The case will be taken up at SHRC’s Thiruvananthapuram office on April 25, he said.
As per reports, Chandrakala, 45, a Karnataka native, died while undergoing treatment for cancer at Manjeri MCH on March 15. After her husband failed to mobilise money demanded by ambulance operators, he decided to hire a car to transport the body and their relatives to their home town in Maharashtra.
Asked about it, an officer with Manjeri police station said “As per their request, we had issued a clearance certificate to transport the body to Maharashtra. The woman had died of cancer and the letter was issued to help them avoid complications during the transport.” “There was no request for help from the family. They did not specify how they were planning to transport the body. If we were told, we would have informed the hospital authorities and helped them in the best possible way,” said the officer.