Son alleges negligence by hospital after missing man’s body found in Kochi, HC seeks report

Kochi, Dec 1 (PTI) The son of a Bengaluru native, whose suspected body was found in a forested area near the HMT premises here, alleged on Monday that his father's death was due to the negligence of Ernakulam Government Medical College authorities.

The Kerala High Court sought a report from the police.

Santon told reporters that Suraj Lama (59), who suffered from memory loss, would not have died had they not discharged him.

Lama, who ran a restaurant in Kuwait, reportedly developed memory impairment following methanol poisoning and was deported in early October.

He arrived at Kochi airport on October 5 and was admitted to Ernakulam Medical College in Kalamassery.

However, he went missing after being discharged from the hospital on October 10.

Santon, who reached Kochi and searched for his father, later filed a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court, which directed the police to form a special investigation team to locate the missing man.

Police officials said CCTV footage showed Lama was last seen near the HMT area, and a search led to the recovery of a decomposed body.

The clothing recovered matched what Lama was last seen wearing, they said.

"My brother saw the body — it is beyond recognition. I saw the photograph. We cannot identify him," Santon said, adding that they will wait for DNA confirmation.

He alleged that the hospital acted irresponsibly in discharging his father despite knowing his condition.

"I have a medical certificate from the Kuwait government stating that my father is mentally challenged. How can the hospital say he requested discharge? How did they let him go in that condition," he asked.

He said the body has now been taken to the same Medical College for further formalities.

"I will move the High Court seeking to shift the procedures elsewhere. I want a second medical opinion before any conclusion," he said.

Santon also criticised immigration officials and airport authorities for allegedly failing to notice his father's mental condition upon arrival.

"Nobody cared. How come an Indian citizen is treated like this? We are from a freedom fighters’ family," he said.

Maintaining that the police tried their best, he said searches were conducted earlier in the same region with dog squads based on the High Court’s direction.

"But the body was found just a short distance away from where we checked," he said.

Medical College authorities said the allegations would be examined, and all admission and discharge records would be verified.

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court sought a report from the police regarding the body recovered.

The division bench of Justices Devan Ramachandran and M B Snehalatha said it was "disturbing news" that a decomposed body was found.

"At this time, we can only hope and pray that the body found is not that of the 'alleged detenue'," the court observed.

The court said the pain of Santon and his family is reflected on it as well and that the suffering is unbearable and lasting for life.

It said it has to know how Lama came to the medical college, how he was discharged, and in what manner.

"This information is vital because it is the specific case of the petitioner that his father — the ‘alleged detenue’ — is cognitively impaired on account of some accident abroad, and that it is only because of this that he was, in fact, sent back to India," the court noted.

According to the bench, the fact that the body was found in a marshy area within the municipality/corporation limits and remained undetected for a month or so is a matter of serious concern.

"The police will have to inform us why such areas are kept unsupervised. We want information about this also on the next posting date," the court said.

Referring to Santon’s counsel's submission that authorities had not been active in the search from the beginning, the court said that this issue will also be examined once full information about Lama is before it.

The police were asked to file a report clarifying whether the body recovered belonged to Lama.

"Since we recognise the urgency involved, we direct the police to make sure that all reports with respect to the body now recovered are settled and made available to us by the next posting date," the court ordered.

The petition will be considered again on December 4. PTI TBA TBA KH