Family in Anakapalle bury wrong body given by NTR hospital, cops rectify mistake

Anakapalle: A family in Anakapalle town buried the wrong body due to a mistake committed by the medical personnel of a government hospital, popularly called NTR Hospital. The hospital staffers delivered the wrong body and it was buried as per usual rituals.

Fortunately, Sabbavaram police later identified the mistake, and on Saturday exhumed the body and handed over the original body to the family members.

The incident drew criticism from the people over the negligence of the medical staff of the hospital, who claimed that the mix-up of bodies at the mortuary was a rare occurrence. The police collected identification marks and blood samples of the unknown dead body, and both bodies were buried separately as per the correct procedure.

The superintendent of NTR Hospital Sravan Kumar initiated an inquiry into the incident and promised action against those who were responsible for the mix-up.

How did the mix-up happen?

The Sabbavaram police said that the first body belonged to a 55-year-old man, later identified as P Srinu of Munagapaka locality in Anakapalle district, a chronic alcoholic and a TB patient. When he was found in an unconscious condition in Anakapalle on July 10, he was shifted to NTR hospital where he died on July 12. Since his identity was not known, the body was kept in the mortuary.

The second body belonged to an unidentified man aged around 55 years, who was killed in a road accident near Askapalli under Sabbavaram police station limits in Anakapalle district on July 11. Since no one claimed the body, it was also kept in the mortuary of the NTR hospital.

A few days ago, a family (a woman and her sons) from Munagapaka came to NTR hospital to claim the body of P Srinu, her husband, who disappeared from the family around five years ago.

However, the hospital staff showed her the accident victim. Since the woman could not recognise the body, it was assumed that the accident victim was her husband Srinu. They took away the body and buried it on Wednesday.

The mix-up came to light when Sabbavaram police led by inspector K Ranganath came to the mortuary on Friday to conduct an inquest into the road accident. The police were surprised when the body of Srinu was shown to them. They found that the body of the accident victim was missing from the mortuary.

The hospital staff and police immediately exhumed the body on Saturday and collected identification marks and blood samples for a DNA test. Srinu’s body was given to the family members who buried him on Saturday afternoon. Normally bodies are tagged and in big hospitals, they are stamped after proper wrapping. These kinds of mix-ups are rare, said Ranganath.