The body of a contractual worker who died in the blast was incorrectly identified as that of Dilip Samantray, another worker, and handed over to his family, which cremated it.
A man who was thought to have succumbed to burn injuries in an AC compressor blast at a private medical college in Bhubaneswar was found alive and undergoing treatment at the same hospital. The misinformation about his death, however, devastated his wife who ended her life unable to bear the trauma.
The body of a contractual worker who died in the blast was incorrectly identified as that of Dilip Samantray, another worker, and handed over to his family, which cremated it.
The incident occurred at Hi-Tech Hospital where four staffers of an outsourcing agency were injured in the compressor blast. Two of the injured persons died while undergoing treatment, while two others were moved to the ICU of the hospital.
Hospital CEO Smita Padhi said after the blast, a staffer of the agency identified the injured persons and on the basis of the details given by him they maintained the records. “A person identified as Dilip Samantray (according to the records) died during the treatment on December 30 and as per protocol, we informed the police. His family members received the body after due procedures,” Padhi told reporters.
On January 1, Dilip’s wife Soumyashree Jena hanged herself after coming to know about her husband’s death in the blast.
One more person injured in the blast, identified as Sritam Sahu, succumbed to his injuries on January 3. The remaining two were brought out of ventilator support after slight improvement in their health condition on Thursday.
The two men were identified as Jyoti Ranjan Mallik and Simanchal Biswal, as per the records. “When the doctors asked one patient his name, he said ‘Dilip Samantray’. This led to confusion and psychiatrist Amrit Pattojoshi was asked to evaluate the mental condition of the patient, apprehending he might be in delusion,” said Padhi.
When the patient was asked about the names of Samantray’s family members, he answered them correctly, said Padhi.
“As a doctor, I am 90% to 95% sure that the patient undergoing treatment is Dilip Samantray. If required, DNA analysis will be done,” said Pattojoshi.
While there is no confusion over the identity of Simanchal Biswal, the family members of Jyoti Ranjan Mallik are now demanding his body.
