Ugly row: One body, two claimants

In a strange case that flummoxed both doctors and police at SRNH mortuary, two persons, both residents of Bihar, turned up to claim the body of a 50-year old woman victim of the stampede.

One said she was his wife, while the other claimed the body was his sister’s. The puzzled doctors and policemen postponed the post mortem examination till the actual relative arrived with family photographs and documents. Policemen on duty at the mortuary suspected compensation as the reason for the confusion. Talking to Hindustan Times, Ramnath Prasad of Chhapra, Bihar said the body was of his wife Habela, 55. He said that he and his wife were returning home when the mishap occurred on Allahabad junction.

Determined not to return without the body, he asked the doctors to wait till he got the family photographs from his hometown. "It is my wife’s body and I have the right to perform the last rites. I will end my life if the body is not handed over to me," said a distraught Ramnath.
Incidentally, since Ramnath had arrived earlier than the other claimant, one Tarni Prasad Yadav of Araria district in Bihar, the police had also completed 'panchnama' formalities.

However, Tarni Prasad said the body was of his sister Nirmala Devi. "Her husband Ram Shanker is a teacher in a junior high school and her son is a medical student. I have asked my brother-in-law to come at the earliest with photographs.”

Meanwhile, Dr PN Dubey incharge of the mortuary, said the post mortem would not be conducted till the actual claimant arrived with proofs.