indianexpress.com :: Family tussle leads court to hand body to medical students

Family tussle leads court to hand body to medical students

Express news service

Posted online: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 at 0204 hrs IST

Kolkata, March 4
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to hand over the dead body of a 48-year-old woman to a medical institution in the wake of her daughter and husband making separate claims of her body.

The body of Pari Mallick alias Farida Begum, who had died on November 1, 2007, had been lying in the morgue, as both her husband and daughter fought for her body.

Farida was admitted to Howrah State General Hospital by her second husband Zikariya Mallick, whom she married in 1973 after the demise of her first husband Prasad Bakshi.

But after she died, Bandana, her daughter from her first husband made a claim over her body. This led to a tussle between Mallick and Bandana with the former filing a petition in the Calcutta High Court in November 2007.

While hearing the case on December 12, 2007, the court had asked the state government to go by the rule and also directed the hospital authority to preserve the body in the morgue until the verdict is delivered.

The legal battle moved from the Single Bench to the Division Bench of the High Court in February. After a series of hearing, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice SS Nijjar and Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya delivered the order today. It added the body could be disposed of according to the law in case there is difficulty in handing it over to medical students.

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Family tussle leads court to hand body to medical students Express news service Posted online: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 at 0204 hrs IST Kolkata, March 4 The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to hand over the dead body of a 48-year-old woman to a medical institution in the wake of her daughter and husband making separate claims of her body. The body of Pari Mallick alias Farida Begum, who had died on November 1, 2007, had been lying in the morgue, as both her husband and daughter fought for her body. Farida was admitted to Howrah State General Hospital by her second husband Zikariya Mallick, whom she married in 1973 after the demise of her first husband Prasad Bakshi. But after she died, Bandana, her daughter from her first husband made a claim over her body. This led to a tussle between Mallick and Bandana with the former filing a petition in the Calcutta High Court in November 2007. While hearing the case on December 12, 2007, the court had asked the state government to go by the rule and also directed the hospital authority to preserve the body in the morgue until the verdict is delivered. The legal battle moved from the Single Bench to the Division Bench of the High Court in February. After a series of hearing, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice SS Nijjar and Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya delivered the order today. It added the body could be disposed of according to the law in case there is difficulty in handing it over to medical students.