Rights panel seeks report on delay in identification of patient’s body

The Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) has asked the Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, as well as the Civil Surgeon to submit a report on an abandoned patient whose identification was sought from the police after inordinate delay by the health authorities.

The matter was taken up in response to a complaint filed by social activist Sanjay Sehgal.

A patient had died at the Jalandhar Civil Hospital in May but the authorities informed the police 50 days later for identification.

The Commissioner of Police and the Civil Surgeon have been asked to submit their report a week before February 6, 2025, the next date of hearing.

Raju, was admitted to the emergency ward on May 16 and was later shifted to surgical ward, where he breathed his last on May 17. The PSHRC order notes that the Deputy Director-cum-Medical Superintendent of the Civil Hospital informed the SHO concerned about the death on July 4 for identification, whereas it should have been reported within 72 hours.

The order states, “The patient was admitted live and his body was declared unidentified. The Health Department has not fixed responsibility of anyone in the whole incident.”

Taking congnisance of the matter, the commission has asked the complaint to be put up before the Commissioner of Police and the Civil Surgeon. Notably, Sehgal had also written to the DGP and the Health Secretary on the issue.

Jalandhar doesn’t care about its abandoned

Bodies of unidentified people have been cremated without due verification on several occasions.

On November 23, two men being abandoned outside a raen basera (night shelter) allegedly by the Civil Hospital staff had hogged limelight.

Even as candidates make umpteen promises ahead of elections, the night shelter under the Domoriah Bridge is a picture of apathy, which rather than providing shelter to the needy, is the last resort of the health authorities to abandon patients.