Relatives of a woman who posthumously tested positive for Covid-19 tried to assault a doctor and other healthcare staff at the government-run KC General Hospital on Tuesday after they refused to hand over the body, police said.
Doctors, however, declined to file a complaint when Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) N Shashi Kumar visited the hospital on Wednesday.
Kumar said the woman, a 43-year-old resident of Srirampura, was admitted to the hospital on July 19 over some health issues and had died subsequently. Her posthumous Covid test came back positive on Tuesday evening.
When her family asked for the body, a duty doctor refused to hand it over to them, citing the positive result.
Meanwhile, 10 to 15 people gathered at the hospital after learning about the death. They allegedly caused a ruckus and tried to attack the doctor and other healthcare workers. Security guards reined in the group and sent them out of the hospital.
When the DCP visited the hospital and urged the doctors to file a complaint, they refused. “The doctors said the woman’s relatives were angry and had misbehaved because they had lost a family member. The doctors didn’t want to hurt them more by filing a complaint. So, an FIR was not registered,” Kumar said.
According to the DCP, while there is no CCTV footage of the incident, the jurisdictional Malleswaram police had visited the hospital on Tuesday night and controlled the situation.
“I visited the hospital after a video telecast by a television channel came to my notice. Everything is under control now,” Kumar added.