After govt announces Rs 5L ex gratia, dead Jamshedpur patients get sudden kin

Time of India

05-05-2025

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Jamshedpur: Abandoned by family and friends during their lifetime, three persons who perished in a
hospital balcony collapse
in Jamshedpur on Saturday, suddenly has a wife, son and a brother, who have surfaced to claim govt compensation
Astonished Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Hospital authorities said the three patients from medicine ward of the B block of the hospital -- David Johnson (75), Lukas Tirki (61) and Srichand Tati (67) never had a visitor during their stay, but shortly after state health minister Irfan Ansari announced ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh for the dead, dozens of people have queued up at the hospital door seeking the bodies and money.
David was admitted at the hospital as an abandoned patient in 2019 and was mostly confined to his bed.
"David, when alive, had often lamented to the hospital staff that he has no family members, so no one comes to visit him. He was very grateful to the doctors, nurses, and staffers of the medicine ward where he was admitted," said Rukmini, one of the hospital staff members.
As David had no personal attendant, the staffer and janitors used to look after him and arrange soap, body oil and other needs through crowdfunding.
"Even after the building collapsed on Saturday afternoon, no one from the family of the trio turned up. Suddenly from Sunday morning, dozens of family members crowded outside the hospital office, to claim the bodies," said Bhavna, another cleaning staff.
To stake claim over David's body, a woman identified herself as Elin Johnson said she was his widow and a son, Patrick Johnson turned up. They claim that they are residents of the locality where David lived.
"We always looked after David during his hospital stay. This claim is totally false and baseless," said another staffer of the hospital.
Similarly, a middle-aged woman claiming to be the niece of Lukas, demanded that his body be handed over to them. According to the staffers, Lukas was admitted to the ward in December 2024 and thereafter no one came to visit him or inquire about his whereabouts.
The story of Srichand is no different. He used to live in a broken ambulance parked on the hospital campus. Later, when he fell ill, he was admitted to the hospital last year. Nobody from their family ever visited when he was admitted to the wards.
"Now, around four people claiming to be relatives of Srichand have staked claim over his body," said Bhavna.
Angry hospital authorities said the govt should not hand over the bodies to anyone claiming them.
"We don't want any money from govt to perform the last rites. But the govt should not give any money to anyone who claims to be the relatives of the deceased," said one of them.
Deputy superintendent of the hospital Nakul Chaudhury said as the post-mortem examination of the three deceased have been carried out, local administration has to take a decision on what to do next.