Muslim woman cremated as bodies exchange with Hindu in Bhopal

A woman who was admitted to Bhopal's Hamadia hospital on April 6, developed symptoms of coronavirus. Later, on Wednesday, she was declared dead by the hospital authorities. Later, the bodies got exchanged with a Hindu woman, who died on the same day. When the hospital contacted the Hindu family, they informed that they had already cremated the body.

Bhopal:In a bizarre incident, a Muslim woman, who was admitted to a city-based hospital and later declared dead after getting infected with the coronavirus, was cremated according to the Hindu rituals on Thursday.

According to the reports, the woman who was admitted to Hamadia hospital on April 6, developed symptoms of coronavirus. Later, on Wednesday, she was declared dead by the hospital authorities. When the family members of the deceased woman reached the hospital to claim the body, they were told to come on the next day. On Thursday, when the kin of the deceased woman came to take the body, the hospital authority handed over the body of another Hindu woman to them. When enquired, it came to the notice that the woman who was handed over to the Hindu family was the body of the Muslim woman who had died on the same day.

When the family members asked the hospital authority to get in touch with the Hindu family, they informed that they had already cremated the woman as per Hindu rituals.

"When we asked the hospital authority to hand over the body of my mother, they gave me the body of another woman. When I claimed that the body did not belong to my mother, they contacted the family member who had taken my mother's dead body. Unfortunately, they informed that they had already cremated the body as per Hindu rituals", said the son of the deceased woman.

When ETV Bharat asked the hospital superintendent I D Chaurasia, he said that the ward boy involved in the incident has been suspended and a high-level probe has been launched in the matter.

Meanwhile, the state has reported 3,722 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of the infections to 3,13,971 while 18 fatalities pushed the toll to 4,073.