Ettumanoor: The body of an unidentified man was left unattended on the corridor of the mortuary of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, for around four hours on Wednesday following a dispute between the Forensic Department and the police over retrieving the case file from the Medical Records Library of the college.

The man had been found injured on the railway track about a month-and-a-half ago and was taken to Medical College Hospital by the Kottayam East police. The man, aged around 63, died during treatment at the hospital a month ago and his body was kept in the morgue since then. As none of the deceased man’s relatives or others claimed his body, officers from the Kottayam East police station arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning to carry out an autopsy and the last rites.

Though the body was taken out of the morgue by 9.30 am, the head of the Forensic Department told the police that the autopsy would be conducted by medical officers only if the case file was produced. Otherwise, the procedure could be carried by postgraduate (PG) students, he added.

As per the directive of the Director of Medical Education (DME), the case files preserved in the Medical Records Library of the Medical College could be handed over only to the head of the Forensic Department or the medical officer on duty that day after receiving their signature. In the event of further procedures in the case, the medical officer who took possession of the file would have to appear before the relevant authorities. As PG students usually do not continue in the institution for a long period, they are not given the duty of retrieving such files from the library.

Subsequently, there was a dispute between the police and the Forensic Department over who should bring the case file from the library, and the body was left unattended for around four hours. Finally, the body was taken for autopsy by 1.30 pm following stern instructions from the Principal to the Forensic Head, and it was handed over to the police by 3 pm.

Dr Sheik Shakeer Hussain of the Forensic Department said that seven autopsies were scheduled on Wednesday, while only two staff members were on duty. “At this time, the police arrived without prior notice and demanded an immediate autopsy on the body of the unidentified man. However, a body kept in the freezer of the mortuary has to be kept outside for some time before the post-mortem can be carried out. Moreover, the police did not bring the necessary documents. Still, we managed to find time for the autopsy,” he said.

An officer at Kottayam East station said that the police intervened in the matter as the deceased man was an orphan. Regarding the delay in retrieval of the case file, he said, “The file will not be handed over to the police. It is the duty of the Forensic Department to take the file from the records library.”