Balasore, Aug 27: ASI Pratap Rudra Mishra of the Balasore Railway Police was suspended by the Government Railway Police (GRP), Cuttack SP, for allegedly asking two sweepers of the hospital to cut 80-year old woman’s corpse into pieces and pack the broken body into a large plastic bag and carry it to Balasore by hanging it on a sling from a bamboo pole.
This suspension took place after the Collector of Balasore district demanded a stringent action to be initiated by the GRP officials against their two staff related to this incident. Collector, Pramod Das informed the media at a press conference that following the order, the GRP had submitted a detailed report of the incident to the district administration in which it had accepted of committing the mess which pointed much insensitivity towards the deceased.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has served a notice to the Odisha government through its Chief Secretary seeking a report on the incident within four weeks. Besides, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has sought an explanation from the Government Railway Police and the Balasore district authorities also within four weeks.
Notably, on Aug 24 the widow Taramani Barik aged 80, was killed on being run over by a goods train near Soro-Bahanaga railway station in Balasore. Doctors at the Soro Community Health Centre (CHC) declared her dead. Railway officials which reached the hospital nearly after 12 hours were supposed to take the corpse to the district headquarters hospital in Balasore Town for post-mortem. Hence, failing to find an ambulance or mortuary van, they asked the sweepers of the hospital to carry the body. As the body had become stiff, the sweepers allegedly broke the leg and hip bones, wrapped it in an old sheet, tied it to a bamboo pole and carried it.
