Body withheld for payment of bill, allege relatives, incident at Mamata Hospital, Bajajnagar

Aurangabad, May 24: Relatives of a dead patient today alleged that Mamata Hospital in Bajajnagar, Waluj withheld the body for nearly five hours for bill of Rs 1.25 lakh.

The body was handed over to relatives after the police and social activists intervened. According to details, a 49-year-old person from Waluj Mahanagar was admitted to Mamata Memorial Hospital on May 3 for treatment of Covid-19. The relatives said they were asked to deposit Rs 1 lakh immediately after admission. Over the next few days, Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh were taken for medicines. Even after three weeks, there had been no improvement in the health of the patient.

Today at 12 noon, doctors told the relatives that the patient had died. The hospital administration allegedly began putting pressure on the kin to pay Rs 1.19 lakh in the remaining bill. However, the kin expressed inability to pay and requested the administration to hand over the body for the last rites. Since the morning, relatives were sitting in front of the hospital for the body.

Wadgaon Bajajnagar sarpanch Sachin Garad, Bhagwant Dherange, PSI Priti Phad, head constable Ramdas Gadekar later reached the spot and held discussions with doctors and relatives.

Media representatives also reached the spot after which the hospital changed the tone. Social activists showed the readiness to pay Rs 15,000 to the hospital and bore the expenses of ambulance and last rites. After this, body was handed over to the kin at 5.45 pm.

Dr Sudam Chavan of Mamata Hospital claimed that the body was lying in the hospital as the relatives were not ready to take its possession. He added that the body was not withheld for payment of bill.