Petitioners seek DNA test of mortal remains
CHANDIGARH: The petitioner sons of Covid-19 victim whose body got swapped at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, have demanded a DNA test of the mortal remains to ascertain the identity.
The demand was made by the victim’s two sons during a resumed hearing of a plea filed on Monday by them after they received body of a woman in place of their father. The Hoshiarpur man’s sons got a call on July 18 that their father has breathed his last on July 17. But on July 18, they had received mortal remains of a woman. The government has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.
The state government filed a detailed status report on Friday after it got a rapped during Wednesday’s hearing for poor handling of the case. It has stated that the process of cremation of the petitioners’ father, whose body got unfortunately exchanged with an Amritsar woman Covid-19 victim, was completed by the latter’s family with full religious rites. Later, when it came to light that the bodies got swapped, the family of the woman victim withdrew from remaining rituals and the district administration collected the remains of the petitioners’ father and kept the same in the custody at an Amritsar crematorium, the court was told.
On this, the court asked the counsel for petitioners whether the petitioners wanted to receive the last remains/ashes of their deceased father or not.
The counsel for petitioners stated that the petitioners cannot verify if the last remains actually belonged to their father and they wished to get the DNA test conducted.
The court then directed that the feasibility of such a test giving conclusive findings be examined and the report be submitted on the next date of hearing on July 29.
Both the parties have been asked to verify and inform the court on the next date of hearing about the feasibility and conclusively of such a test, if conducted. In the meantime, the court has directed the state authorities to keep the ashes of the deceased in safe custody and to ensure that they are not tampered with.