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YCMH asks police to claim decade-old viscera samples

Source: , Posted On:   16 February 2021

YCMH asks police to claim decade-old viscera samples

 

Hospital authorities write to both PCMC and rural cops to transfer the organs to lab

In any suspected murder case or medico-legal case, the viscera report obtained after the post-mortem of the deceased holds prime importance. However, with viscera samples of over 300 deceased people lying in neglect in a locked room of Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH), it seems that neither Pimpri-Chinchwad police nor Pune rural cops are in any hurry to close these cases.

Housing viscera jars of more than 300 bodies, the store wears an almost eerie look, where some of these samples are said to be lying since 2011. Many of the bottles do not even have labels on them anymore to help identify the name of the victim. According to experts, such organs have a 24-hour window to be transferred to a forensic science laboratory (FSL), failing which the results could be compromised and the organs could start rotting.

Health officials of YCMH want the police to deliver the samples to FSLs and have written to the Pimpri-Chinchwad police chief and superintendent of the Pune rural police. Hospital officials claimed that it is the task of the police to collect the samples and accused them of inaction, add-ing that the neglect has left no room for more samples.


Dr Rajendar Wable, dean of YCMH postgraduate institute, said the viscera samples preserved after autopsy should be transferred by the police station concerned to the lab and the forensic report has to be sent to the post-mortem department then. Based on these, the final report has to then be given by the hospital, which works as a significant evidence in legal cases. “If the reports are not submitted, then the cases remain pending. It is only after kin of some of the deceased approach the authorities, they speed up the process,” Dr Wable added.

Dr Shrikant Shinge, head of the forensic medicine department at YCMH, said, “We have written to the both twin towns’ and rural cops, asking them to send the viscera samples to the FSL. At YCMH, we deal with several medico-legal cases, which need us to preserve the organs often. These viscera samples belong to both the rural and city cops. The cases are registered with different police stations, with both authorities in possession of the records. The pile-up happens after every twothree years.”

PCMC police commissioner Krishna Prakash, however, said that it is the joint responsibility of the police officials and the health department to see that the viscera samples reach the forensic lab on time. “I will make sure that the samples belonging to us reach the laboratory. However, I have to also check who is at lapse here and why the samples haven’t been sent to the lab. I will call for a meeting with health officials and cops to find aresolution,” Prakash added.

When contacted, superintendent of police (Pune rural) Abhinav Deshmukh said, “I am not aware of the issue as it is an old one. I will send an officer to YCMH to verify the facts with the hospital authorities and take further steps accordingly.”

 

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