In Odisha, a 24-year-old woman committed suicide upon hearing the demise of her husband at the Hi-Tech Hospital of Odisha due to an AC blast. But here comes the twist: the person who died was not her husband. He was under treatment in the hospital, but he died later. Because of a mistaken identity crisis, the woman killed herself, which initiated protests outside of the hospital.

The incident happened in Hi-Tech Hospital in Odisha on December 29, when Dilip Samantray, Jyoti Ranjan Malik, Sritam, and Simanchal were servicing the hospital AC, and the blast took place while filling the gas in the AC on the rooftop. The persons were severely wounded, and their faces were deformed, which made them unable to recognize their faces. They were admitted to the same hospital. Out of four people, two succumbed to injuries, and two are undergoing treatment.

The hospital mistakenly identified Jyotiranjan, who died on December 30, as Dilip Samantray and announced his death. After that, the police handed over the body, which was assumed to be Dilip, to his kin. Upon hearing the news, Sona, the wife of Dilip, out of misery, committed suicide on January 1. But on Friday, Hi-Tech Hospital explained that Dilip Samantary was alive, and the body that was given to Sona and her family was Jyothiranjan. But it was too late, and the body was cremated.

It was known after the person who was undergoing treatment in the name of Jyothi Ranjan got out of the ventilator. While interacting with doctors, he contended that he was Dilip, not Jyothi Ranjan. However, Dilip died at 3:10 a.m. on Saturday. The information from the hospital shocked Dilip’s mother and other family members, placing them in devastating condition again for the third time.

According to the TOI report, the hospital CEO, Smita Padhi, said that they didn't commit any mistakes, the mechanics were employed by a private firm to repair the ACs, and a contractor related to the firm identified the persons when they were admitted to the hospital after the blast. Each member of the family saw the injured patients. So, we followed all the legal and medical procedures, and the police handed over the body to the family. Nobody from the family reported that the body was not Dilip. She also said that since the issue was not settled, we exhorted the police to scrutinize it. Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said that an ACP rank officer will investigate the issue. 

(Input from various sources)

(Rehash/Lavanya Beeraboina)