Identity confusion triggers tragic chain of events in Odisha - man declared dead, then alive, dies

Dilip Samantaray, a mechanic who was critically burned in an AC compressor explosion at a Bhubaneswar private hospital on December 29 and was pronounced deceased the following day due to identity confusion, passed away later.

A case of mistaken identity has brought upon immense grief on a family in Odisha.

Dilip Samantaray, an AC mechanic who was critically burned in a compressor explosion at a Bhubaneswar private hospital on December 29 and was pronounced dead the following day due to identity confusion, passed away early on Saturday, January 6.

When Jyotiranjan Mallick, a 34-year-old mechanic, died on December 30, the hospital originally identified him as Dilip, reported Times of India.

Dilip's wife Soumyashree allegedly took her own life on January 1, unable to deal with the grief.

Dilip's mother and other relatives were devastated by the hospital's statement on Saturday, as they had to go through a tragic news for the third time in a matter of few days.

The inability of Jyotiranjan's family to claim his body for the last rites has left them equally shocked. His body mistakenly identified as Dilip was cremated by the latter's family.

“Dilip was pronounced deceased on Saturday at 3:10 am. We told his family members right away. We tried our best, but he couldn’t be saved. The patient’s heartbeat and oxygen level reduced drastically. As per the procedure, we will hand over the body to the police and they will handle the other formalities. If required, a DNA test will be conducted. We will collect samples,” Smita Padhi, CEO of Hi-Tech Hospital said.

The remains will be transported to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar for postmortem, preservation, and DNA profiling, according to additional DCP Prakash Chandra Pal.