C'garh: Authorities deny reports that man's body was kept in

Jashpur district authorities in Chhattisgarh today denied reports that body of a man was allegedly kept in a toilet of a primary health centre (PHC) by its staff.

It was reported by a section of media that the body of a villager, identified as Bitu (29), who had allegedly committed suicide after consuming poison, was kept inside a toilet of the PHC at Sanna village in the district.

However, authorities today refuted the allegations, clarifying that the corpse was kept in "gallery of a toilet" at the PHC for sometime before sending it for postmortem on April 3, as there is no mortuary facility available in the premises.

"Bitu, a resident of Chalni village, had allegedly consumed poison after having an altercation with his wife on April 3. His mortal remains were taken to the Sanna PHC for postmortem. The body was kept in the gallery of the bathroom adjacent to the patients' ward for sometime as there is no mortuary in the premises," Station House Officer (SHO), Sanna police station, Laxman Singh Dhruve said today.

Jashpur Collector Dr Priyanka Shukla has also denied reports that the body was kept inside a toilet.

"As there is no mortuary facility in the PHC, the corpse was earlier kept in the patients' ward. However, when some pregnant women and other patients in the ward raised an objection, the body was shifted to the gallery of the toilet where it was kept for sometime," said the Collector.

She said the postmortem was conducted at Burskona mortuary.

The collector said a sum of Rs 77.21 lakh has been sanctioned for construction of a mortuary and renovation works at the Sanna PHC.