RIMS STAFF FLEECE DECEASED’S KIN TO DO AUTOPSY

In a shocking state of affairs, the post-mortem of bodies, which are supposed to be conducted free of cost unquestionably is being shamelessly charged at a range of Rs500-800 per body at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).

The ugly truth on how poorly the dead is being handled was revealed during a visit to the stinking mortuary at the city’s largest Government hospital on Tuesday.

The story begins from the bodies entering the main gate of the hospital or soon after a person is declared dead at any of the wards in the premises. The bodies are ferried from wherever it is to the mortuary in the stretchers at a price of not less than Rs300.

The mortuary staff who puts the bodies on the stretchers and wheel them to the Forensic and Toxicology Department’s entrance and would start charging the already-harrowed family, friends and relatives of the dead for money from the very moment they pick them up. The bargain usually starts from Rs500 and ends at Rs250-300 per body.

“We are already running late and not in a mental state to fight with these people. Though, they get paid by the government for working here and it is undoubtedly, their duty to carry the bodies till here. But, the man started negotiating since the time he picked up my younger brother’s body from the Emergency Ward and we finally ended up paying Rs300,” said Anil Kujur, a resident of Khunti who was here to get the post-mortem conducted of his 25-year-old younger brother who met with a road accident yesterday night.

Usually, Maruti vans drive up to the porch of the mortuary that houses bodies wherein staff in no uniform would rush out to only dump the bodies tied up in plastic sacks inside the vans hurriedly and quickly disappear into the dark room inside. Another larger shock is that the post mortems are being conducted only by a couple of medical assistants on a regular basis who are supposedly first, second and third year students instead of forensic experts, who are solely authorized to examine the bodies. The forensic experts only visit the department once in a while when their signature is required, according to a Mortuary Cleaning Staff.

“They not only charge people money for everything here but allowing a medical student to conduct autopsy is like a nurse solely performing a surgery. It is scary how things are being handled here at the government hospitals and to be honest, RIMS is only a government hospital for the namesake. One has to pay at every nook and corner in order to get things not only done but just moving,” said a 40-year-old Ramesh Kumar from Tatisilwai who had accompanied his neighbour’s family for their son’s autopsy.

Now, comes the largest shocking part of the entire picture wherein the couple of mortuary staff who are the only ones responsible in running the mortuary here enters into dirty fight with the dead’s families over money. “Saathso rupaiya nai doge toh apna bête ke laash ko thaila mein daalke le jao. Hum nahin silenge use. Pehle paisa do. (If you don’t pay at least Rs700, you can feel free to take your son’s body in a plastic bag. We will not sew the body back. First give us the money),” yelled a staff named Raju after opening up the 25-year-old’s body at the morgue while asking for money from the family waiting outside the operation room.

Finally, the deal was sealed at Rs500 between Raju and the deceased’s family which would not have settled down for less than Rs1,000 if it was during the night. “After dark hours, the scene here is quite different. Nobody comes here on visit and thus, these people extort money from the poor families at their own whims and fancy. This fight was nothing and if it was in the night, they often threaten to sew the family with the bodies together and sack them up,” said another cleaner here.

However, the Director of the hospital pleaded complete ignorance of the matter as he said he was shocked to learn of such irregularities practiced under his nose. “I am completely unaware of such happenings at the department. Now, that you have informed me about the same, I will definitely inquire into the serious matter. We will surely check what can be done to put an end to it immediately,” said Dr BL Sherwal.