Four months on, Calcutta HC tells state to conduct post-mortem on newborn’s body after parents allege foul play

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Bengal government to conduct a post-mortem on the decomposed body of a four-day-old who reportedly died on June 15. The newborn’s parents claimed that they were informed of the baby’s death 10 days later, on June 25, prompting them to allege foul play and move court.
The HC also sought a DNA report on October 13 when it will hear the matter next.The child’s parents have already submitted their blood samples for the DNA test.
A division bench of Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed SSKM Hospital’s paediatric department to “particularly indicate the reasons for the apparent decomposition of the body and the other usual information as required to be furnished in course of a post-mortem report”.
The HC also asked the SSKM authorities to corroborate the DNA report before it is placed before the court.
The HC said, “The matter could have been closed if the state was not found wanting in the perfunctory inquiry conducted by the hospital and the blame sought to be foisted on a lowly employee.”
The boy was born to Babun and Debjani Mandal on June 12 at Chandernagore Hospital. Due to a breathing problem, he was admitted in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital’s SNCU on June 13. The couple claimed they had been visiting RG Kar from June 15 to 25. On June 25, they were shown a decomposed body and was told their baby had died on June 15. Their lawyer Brajesh Jha told the HC that the couple had waited outside RG Kar Hospital all day and on June 23, the mother was reportedly asked by hospital authorities to breastfeed heir son.
State advocate general Kishore Dutta had told the court that the hospital had made announcements on June 15 through the hospital public address system to inform the boy’s parents. They, however, did not turn up. The hospital kept the body in the ward for three days before sending it to the morgue. The hospital also claimed to have attempted to reach the parents over cellphone but had received no reply. The court had earlier directed police to check the call details.
The court had mentioned that it appeared that the hospital authority did not make any attempt to contact the police station where the parents lived to inform them.