The Haryana Human Rights Commission has ordered state health authorities to fix and maintain mortuary facilities across all government hospitals, emphasising that the dignified preservation of bodies is a fundamental responsibility.
Event Context
HHRC member Deep Bhatia issued the directive to chief medical officers following two complaints of negligence and broken freezer chambers in Sonepat and Faridabad.
Team Analysis
The intervention was triggered by a complaint from a Panipat resident whose 30-year-old son died under suspicious circumstances. The father alleged that when the body was sent to the Civil Hospital in Sonepat for a post-mortem, the mortuary lacked functioning freezers, causing the body to deteriorate rapidly and inflicting distress on the grieving family.
In response to the panel’s inquiry, Sonepat’s civil surgeon reported that the local civil hospital operates eight deep freezers, supplemented by three chambers at the BPS Government Medical College for Women in Khanpur Kalan.
A separate investigation into the BK Civil Hospital in Faridabad revealed that four of its 14 dead body freezer chambers were temporarily out of service for routine maintenance. While hospital administrators defended the facility by stating that the remaining 10 functional chambers were adequate to handle their daily average of five to 20 autopsies, the commission refused to overlook the lapses.
The rights panel has now mandated strict, periodic inspections of all government mortuaries to ensure that every single cold storage chamber remains fully operational at all times. The commission warned that any further negligence regarding the respectful handling and preservation of the dead will not be tolerated.
