Third victim of Hi-Tech hospital blast succumbs amid ‘identity mix-up’ row; they killed my son, says Dilip’s mother

Amid raging confusion over the identity, another victim of an AC compressor explosion at the Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital in Bhubaneswar, who claimed himself to be Dilip Samantray, passed away while undergoing treatment on Saturday morning.

With the death, three persons injured in the explosion have passed away so far. Only one person is currently undergoing treatment in the hospital.

However, high drama unfolded after Dilip’s death. The hospital authorities had earlier announced him dead after a patient succumbed to his injuries. They had also handed over the body to the family members of Dilip who performed his last rites. Sadly, the grief-stricken wife of Dilip- Sona Samantray took her own life following the news of his death.

A strange twist came to the incident on Friday after one victim believed to be Jyoti Ranjan Mallick came out of the ICU and claimed that he was actually Dilip Samantaray leaving the two families devastated.

Be it the carelessness of the hospital authorities or the police or the ignorance of the family members, confusion in the identification of the bodies has left many in the lurch.

Meanwhile, Jyoti Ranjan’s family members have put a question mark on the process of identification of the body in the hospital. They have demanded that the body of Jyoti Ranjan should be handed over to them immediately.

Now question mark has been raised whether Dilip’s body will be handed over to the deceased’s family or not.

Police to take call on body identification

Meanwhile, the medical authorities have stated that the body will be handed over to the police. Proper identification of the body could be made only after the arrival of the DNA test report.

“We tried our best, but couldn’t save the patient as his heart beat and Oxygen level reduced drastically. As per the procedure, we will hand over the body to the police. If DNA test will be conducted, we will collect the sample,” said Hi-Tech hospital CEO Dr Smita Padhi. 

Also Read: Twist in Hi-Tech hospital blast: Confusion arises over identification of 'dead' Dilip days after grief-stricken wife's suicide

“They Killed My Son”

The mother of Dilip Samantray is devastated following the news of his death and brought serious allegations against the hospital authorities.   

“The doctors didn’t show us the body and gave us a different one. We couldn’t identify the body and cremated it. While performing the last rites for a couple of days, the hospital authorities again said that Dilip was alive. Subsequently, we reached the hospital and requested the doctors to allow me to meet my son. When I called him by his name, he responded by shaking his head,” said Dilip’s mother.

“However, the doctors told us at 2pm that Dilip’s heart is not functioning. They again told us after an hour that Dilip is no more. Then I called all our family members about our son’s death. Earlier, my daughter-in-law committed suicide when the hospital authorities declared my son’s death by mistake. However, when we came to know again that Dilip is alive, it had given us some hope. But our hopes were shattered again. The hospital authorities killed my son and gave me a lot of pain,” the bereaved mother added.

“We were very happy to know after seven days that my brother is alive. The hospital authorities killed my brother by neglecting his treatment to hide the truth and avoid a bad name for the institution. He had shown remarkable improvement. However, they killed him intentionally,” said Dilip’s brother.