Mohali: Gangster's kin told to bring ice to mortuary to stop body from rotting

MOHALI: In the absence of electricity at the mortuary of civil hospital, Derabassi, the family members of Vivek Rana, who was found shot dead on Samgoli Road near Derabassi on Thursday, had to bring ice slabs to prevent the body form decomposing on Friday.
The deceased youth’s relatives told TOI that they were being harassed by the staff and one of the doctors asked them to bring their own CFL bulb for the mortuary.
Due to the alleged negligence of the hospital staff and poor infrastructure, Rana’s kin faced a troubled time at the hospital. The family members said that they brought ice slabs to mortuary and had to wait for hours before the postmortem because of the power shutdown and negligence of the staff.
According to a source, the power went out around 3pm on Thursday and the shutdown lasted till 12pm on Friday. A short-circuit in the electrical control panel of the hospital is believed to be the reason behind the power cut. However, even after the power was back on, the wires which supply electricity to the mortuary and the canteen were not fixed. Later, the generator also stopped working.
Rana’s cousin Shakti Singh complained that the hospital staff caused unnecessary delay in the postmortem. “We have been present here since Thursday afternoon. Even though the documentation work was done by 9.30am, the doctor started the postmortem at 12.30 pm on Friday. The hospital also lacks proper seating arrangement,” Singh said.
Another relative of the deceased Mukesh Thakur said, “The freezer of the mortuary has not been working since 3am on Thursday. Now, we are bringing ice slabs to the mortuary. Also, the power went out at around 3pm on Thursday and when it was restored around 12.15 on Friday, the doctor asked us to bring a CFL bulb at the mortuary. So, we went to the nearby shops, but did not find one anywhere.”
Sangeeta Jain, senior medical officer of Derabassi civil hospital, said, “Due to a short-circuit in the control panel, the light went out few times, but the glitch was fixed in time. Moreover, the freezer of the mortuary was not affected.”