KRISHNAGIRI: A social activist, who has been burying unclaimed dead bodies in government hospitals, said bodies are not wrapped fully with appropriate material.
M Gopinath, who works in a private firm at Hosur, has been arranging decent burial for unclaimed bodies since 2018. He has so far buried about 350 bodies from government hospitals in Krishnagiri and Hosur with the support of the police. On Wednesday, he received the dead body of P Poonkodi (60) from Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital that allegedly was partially wrapped with a bedspread. The body was kept in the mortuary for 23 days, sources said. With help from Uthangarai police, Gopinath tried to bury her in a burial ground at Krishnagiri, but workers were unable to go near the body due to bad odour and were unable to place her in a pit.
“Usually, dead bodies would be tightly wrapped using cotton material to prevent bad odour. On Wednesday, I found the woman’s body not properly wrapped. It’s disappointing people like us when such incidents happen,” Gopinath told TNIE.
Uthangarai police who accompanied Gopinath told TNIE, “The woman was shifted from Uthangarai Hospital to Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital in the last week of September and she died on October 1. The body was covered only with a bed sheet.” P Chandrasekar, dean (In-charge) of GKMCH said would inquire into the issue.