Don't allow hospitals to retain bodies for not settling bills, ensure decent cremation: NHRC

It comes against the backdrop of the recent incident in which bodies, presumably of Covid-19 victims, were found floating in the Ganga

Hospitals should be "explicitly prohibited" from "deliberately retaining" dead bodies for non-payment of bills, ensure timely and decent burial, disallow mass burial or cremation of Covid-19 victims and curbing arbitrary hike of ambulance charges are among a slew of measures suggested by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a latest advisory on handling dead people.

The advisory on 'Upholding the Dignity and Protecting the Rights of the Dead' was issued on Friday, as the country still does not have a specific law for protecting the rights of the dead though courts have specifically given directions in this regard.

It also comes against the backdrop of the recent incident in which bodies, presumably of Covid-19 victims, were found floating in River Ganges in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Read | India’s Covid crisis pushes up cost of living — and dying

Keeping the huge number of deaths and long queues at crematoria during the pandemic, the NHRC has said that the government should set up temporary facilities for cremation while staff should be sensitised about its handling.

Religious rituals that do not require touching of the dead body could be allowed such as reading from religious scripts and sprinkling holy water. Use of electric crematoriums should be encouraged to avoid the health hazards emerging from the emission of smoke from burning pyres in large numbers, it said.

Amid reports of piling up of dead bodies during the transportation and at other places, the advisory asked the governments to ensure that such incidents do not occur. Mass burial or cremation should also "not be allowed to take place as it is in violation of the right to dignity of the dead".

With several cases of hospitals not releasing dead bodies on account of not settling the bills, the NHRC said the governments should "explicitly" prohibit from "deliberately retaining" any dead body on this count and hospitals must hand over the body to the family of the deceased or to the civic body if it is an unclaimed body in a dignified way.

Read | Shallow graves and bodies in the river: Covid-19 hits India's villages

It also wanted an amendment in the law so that the will of the deceased regarding the organ donation is given prime importance irrespective of the opinion of the legal heir.

The NHRC emphasised that the government should take care of staff at crematoria, burial grounds and mortuaries who work round the clock during the pandemic, saying they should be paid "fair wages to compensate their hard work" and that they should be "vaccinated on priority" keeping in view the risk they are exposed to.

The governments to ensure that a dead body is properly preserved and handled irrespective of religion, region, caste and gender. Any form of physical exploitation of dead bodies violates the basic right of the deceased, who also has the right to a decent and timely burial or cremation. The will, if any, left by the dead must be respected and honoured while the State should also ensure that the deceased gets justice if she is a victim of crime.

The deceased person should not be defamed by any kind of statement or visible representation, made or published intending to harm her reputation, the advisory said.

On mortuaries, the NHRC said that regular mopping and cleaning should be undertaken so that the dead bodies are preserved in a "proper, clean environment".

"The facility should maintain confidentiality of clinical records and must have a mechanism for guarding information related to the deceased, especially for cases that are stigmatized and socially criticised, such as that of HIV and suicidal cases," it said.

Media, including social media, must avoid explicit photographs or videos of dead bodies from being shown to the common public and must use masking techniques wherever the dead body is shown, so as to ensure that the right to privacy and dignity of the deceased person is not compromised, it said.

"Personal remarks or comments which are derogatory in nature, hampering the dignity of a dead person, should not be published," the NHRC added.