Team Herald
BAMBOLIM: After more than four days, the goof-up at Goa Medical College Morgue still remains a mystery, which has led to wild speculations and accusations ranging from “criminal negligence” to the possibility of organ harvesting. With the Crime Branch investigating on its own and Health Department launching its own internal investigations, Herald visited Goa Medical College and questioned several staff members as well as sources within Health Department, to find out reasons behind the goof-up, the events and administrative failure that led to alleged illegal act due to which a family was denied a peaceful farewell to a loved one. What has emerged is a sinister leadership in the GMC morgue affairs which has raised some disturbing questions.
The body of one Vishant Naik was placed in freezer number 228 and has been lying in the morgue since 2015. The same had to be shifted from one freezer cabinet to another due to frequent breakdowns. “You can imagine the state of the body”, said a staff member. The body was shifted from cabinet number 228 to 220 but someone forgot to record the new location of the body in the register. On September 23, the body of Januz Gonsalves was placed in cabinet number 228. On Friday, reportedly at around 12.30 noon, the CCP officials had arrived to collect four bodies for disposal.
Dr Edmundo Rodrigues, the Head of the Forensic Department, is the one responsible for granting approval for handing over the bodies for disposal. Sources say Dr Edmundo, who is currently serving his third extension as the HoD of Forensic Department and is due for retirement in July 2019, has had a track record of inconsistencies.
For example, his alleged rude behaviour with Januz’s family was confirmed by his staff too. GMC sources confirmed that “at times he used to be very arrogant to his staff”. This is very important because the Forensic Department deals with deaths and the family members are often raw with emotions and require a composed and calm behaviour which is not visible.
Dr Edmundo had not undergone mandatory fitness test before being granted extension to his key position. From the age of 62 to 65, every year a medical fitness assessment has to be done before granting extension to ensure that the doctor is in a good state of mind and adheres to various parameters such. If the doctor gets annoyed easily or he suffers from diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, which impairs his cognitive skills he cannot be given further extension. However, GMC authorities confirmed his extension without medical examination saying, “It is true that he was not subjected to medical fitness as he was continuous in service with no break in service”.
Interestingly, there are conflicting reports about Dr Edmundo’s behaviour. Some say he gets angry easily and snaps at the staff including the police officers, who frequently visit the department. Other staff say he is strict, which some don’t like. But no one could confirm if he has taken any medical fitness examination before he was granted each of the three extensions.
There were even conflicting claims as to whether he checks the body before sending it for disposal. A staff member in private said that Dr Edmundo does not have the habit of checking the body, while other members claim that he does check the bodies often.
“I don’t know how it happened in this case”, said the staff member.
On that fateful day, when the CCP staff arrived to take the body for disposal, Prakash Narvekar was reportedly on duty when Dr Edmund wrote on a piece of paper and gave it to Machindra Jalmi asking him to hand over the four bodies to the CCP. When Jalmi came down to the ground floor and removed the bodies from the cabinets, they knew for sure that three of the four bodies were old ones since they had fungus. Forensic staff use the term “artefacts” to describe the fungus and other signs of the body that indicate that the same was in the freezer for a long time.
The fourth body was fresh so Prakash and his colleague Jalmi went upstairs to the office section and told Dr Edmundo to check the body and confirm it based on the cabinet numbers mentioned on the paper earlier. Dr Edmundo refused to listen saying “I told you to go and give that body”. Both went down. Again Prakash reportedly sent Jalmi upstairs to Dr Edmundo’s office and requested him again but Dr Edmundo replied, “Can’t you hear what I told you. I told you to give the body.”
Others unanimously confirmed that ever since Dr Edmundo became the HoD he never conducted any post-mortem. His predecessors would frequently conduct post-mortems. Dr Reddy and Dr Sapeco would personally enter the morgue and personally verify with the family or CCP authorities before handing over the body. “If a body is kept for too long in the morgue especially after decomposition, it changes, which can make it difficult for relatives to recognise”, said a staff member. But then even seniors in the GMC administrative hierarchy agree that “Supervision is a personal ability and may not be there with all HoDs” and Dr Edmundo did not display much of it.
When asked why the staff didn’t take a strong stand against handing over Gonsalves’ body to the CCP authorities, they replied stating that the procedure is all paperwork and once the HoD signs the file, the decision is final. “No staff member wants to argue with the HoD”, said the staff member.
When asked if they think Prakash Narvekar and Machindra Jalmi have to be held responsible, almost all people interviewed said they raised their objections before the HoD. “What else could they have done?” asked a staff member. Almost all the staff agreed that it is wrong to target their two colleagues. “Dr Edmundo is the final authority. If he had just come down and looked at the body this would not have happened” is the general consensus.
However the general fear is that the influential Dr Edmundo who was assigned to this position with solid backing by the then Chief Minister, Health Minister and an influential MLA from South Goa overriding concerns about his behaviour, may wriggle out and the axe may fall on others.
When Herald tried contacting Dr Edmundo Rodrigues, he disconnected the call. Dr Andre V Fernandes, who has taken over as HoD of Forensic Department refused to comment.
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How Dr Edmundo Rodrigues ruled GMC Morgue & Forensics Dept
* Two-time extension granted thanks to proximity to influential BJP MLA from South Goa
* Allegedly no medical fitness tests conducted before being granted extensions
* Unlike his predecessors, he did not conduct any post-mortems after taking over as HoD of the forensic department
* Unlike his predecessors, he does not personally supervise crucial activities such as handing over bodies to the families or CCP
* Under his administration, GMC morgue plagued with malfunctioning freezers and staff shortage.
