Wrong body shocks family in Balasore as coffin sticker goes awry

The mix-up was traced to a wrong sticker on the coffin, forcing the ambulance carrying another body to Siliguri to turn back midway for an exchange.

Balasore: A family in Odisha's Balasore district alleged that they received the body of another person instead of a family member who died in Bengaluru due to wrong labelling of sticker on the coffin.

Rakesh Shaw (21), working as a supervisor in a private company in Bengaluru, died of electrocution on August 15. His body, along with another person's body from Siliguri in West Bengal, was carried in the same ambulance for delivery to their respective families.

The ambulance handed over the coffin of Rakesh to the family at Mulising village and left for Siliguri on Sunday, they said on Monday.

However, when the coffin delivered to the family member of Mulising village in Soro block was opened, it was found that the body was not that of Rakesh.

Immediately, the company that arranged to dispatch the coffins was contacted, and the ambulance carrying the coffin to Siliguri had to return from the midway and exchange the dead body.

All the mess happened due to the wrong labelling of the sticker on the coffin at the dispatch point, the family members alleged.