NHRC seeks report from Bengal on 'disposal of bodies in crematorium'

Acting on a complaint of one Bipul Chattopadhyay that 13-14 unidentified bodies were treated in an undignified manner, the NHRC yesterday dashed off letters to the state Chief Secretary, the Commissioner of Police and the Municipal Commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

UNI has accessed a copy of the letter signed by Assistant Registrar (Law) Indrajeet Kumar.

The complaint, dated Jun 17, was placed before the Commission yesterday.

The NHRC letter states, 'Upon perusing the complaint, the Commission directed as follows:  The complainant has alleged that 13-14 unidentified human dead bodies, of suspected corona patients, were treated in an undignified and irresponsible manner by the workers of Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

'In a video that went viral on social media, the workers were seen dragging decomposed dead bodies by the neck with tongs and loading them into a van, outside the Garia Crematorium. All of these bodies were without clothes and some bodies were decomposed, while some others didn't have any layer of skin. It is alleged that the method of putting the decomposed, uncovered dead bodies in the van was not only undignified but also exposed the people living in the locality to serious medical risk.'

'It is further submitted that the West Bengal Health Department and Kolkata Police have dismissed the video as fake without proper investigation into the matter. The complainant is seeking Commission’s intervention for necessary action,' the assistant registrar's letter states and called for a report in the matter within six weeks.

As soon as the incident came to light earlier this month, the state-owned NRS Medical College and Hospital had said they had handed over 14 bodies to the civic body for cremation as these were unclaimed.

The government also maintained that these were unclaimed bodies and not those of Coronavirus patients.

Incidentally, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had, in a series of tweets then, expressed anguish at the handling of the bodies and sought an urgent briefing from the KMC chairperson.

He had also berated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress dispensation, saying, "rather than booking those responsible for such inhuman criminality, police are being misused to teach a lesson to those who exposed it".