Goa: Man's body mistaken for unclaimed corpse, disposed of by

The corpse of a 24-year-old man was erroneously handed over by the Goa Medical College Hospital to the local civic corporation here which reportedly disposed of the body as an unclaimed one.

The kin of Jamiz Gonsalves Saturday filed a police complaint against the GMCH authorities while state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane placed Dr Edumundo Rodrigues, head of the Forensic Department at GMCH, under suspension.

Minister Rane added that GMCH dean Pradeep Naik had been asked to investigate the matter and submit a report within eight days.

Rodrigues has reportedly told dean Naik that the mix up happened as Gonsalves' body was shifted from one cabinet in the morgue to another, which previously contained an unclaimed corpse, due to malfunctioning of the cold storage mechanism there.

This cabinet previously contained an unclaimed corpse that had been there since July 30, officials said.

Following this mix up, the body of Gonsalves, mistaken for the unclaimed corpse previously there in the cabinet, was handed over to the Corporation of City of Panaji last week which carried out the last rites.

The kin got to know of the incident Saturday following which they filed a police complaint, said officials.