In a shocking incident, kinsmen of a deceased nurse did not come to claim her body for the last rites in Bhubaneswar since they did not get ownership of her property. The body was left for four days before it was finally handed over by police to her caretaker for cremation.
As per reports, Sashi Prabha, a retired nurse of Capital Hospital who was honoured with Mother Teresa Award, died on January 20. Her body was left in the morgue of the hospital for four days. The hospital authorities waited for four days for her kinsmen to receive the body for last rites while police also repeatedly reminded them about the mortal remains.
As no claimant turned up, police got ready all the necessary documents after four days and handed over the body to her caretaker Jyotirmayee Subudhi.
Sashi Prabha was a spinster and even after her retirement, she continued to render her free service to patients for 16 years.
It was alleged that her relatives were upset because they did not get ownership of Sashi Prabha’s property and refrained from performing the last rites.
Speaking to the media, her caretaker Jyotirmayee Subuddhi lamented, ”Police had decided to hand over the body to me on January 21. But her relatives said that they would receive the body. Police waited for them, but they did not come.”
Two nurses who worked with Sashi Prabha expressed grief over such an incident. A nurse of Capital Hospital said that Sashi Prabha had no close relatives with her while her servant was with her.
Goutam Kisan, ACP Zone-2 said, ”We could not get information immediately about her close relatives or distant relatives. We tried to get information about them. We kept the body for her acquaintance to come forward to claim it for last rites. But on one came.”
Sources said as per her will documents, her body was handed over to her caretaker.
On the other hand, one of her relatives told over phone to our reporter that who is using her property should perform her last rites.