Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) issued two death certificates of a 39-year-old man, who died of Covid-19 in 2020, with different names of his spouse and revived a feud over his marital status.
Puja Kumari, the woman claiming to be Rajeev Kumar Nirala’s second wife, ended up getting ₹4 lakh compensation, which prompted his father, Janardan Prasad, to seek its cancellation. Kumari accused Nirala’s family of concealing his marital status when he married her in 2016.
Prachi Priya was mentioned as Nirala’s wife in the first death certificate issued to Prasad. Six days later, the certificate was revised describing Kumari as Nirala’s wife. HT has copies of the two death certificates.
Prasad filed an application under the Right To Information Act in December to know the basis on which AIIMS changed the name of Nirala’s spouse in the revised death certificate. But the institute is yet to respond.
Prasad said he was waiting for AIIMS to correct the death certificate and respond to his RTI application for him to seek the recovery of compensation paid to Kumari. “AIIMS should cancel the revised death certificate and get it back from Kumari.”
The disaster management department, which paid the compensation, said it was unaware of the case as it has not received any complaint.
Kumari, who accused Nirala’s family of cheating her by hiding his marital status, has lodged a case of dowry against them in Patna.
She said her brother Rahul Dev Barman attended to Nirala through his treatment at AIIMS and spent lakhs on his medication. “My brother and I received my husband’s body from the institute for cremation.”
She added she received the compensation after getting a call from the office of Patna’s circle officer. “ I was asked to complete the formalities for claiming the compensation.”
AIIMS said it has taken “serious cognizance” of the issue of two death certificates, with different names of the spouse but it was yet to correct the mistake.
“AIIMS Patna shall cancel both the existing death certificates and issue a fresh certificate to the father without mentioning names of the wife, as it is not a mandatory field in the death certificate form,” AIIMS (Patna) public relations officer Shreekant Bharti said in an e-mail. “Disciplinary action in the form of warning letter will be given to the concerned staff issuing these certificates.”
Bihar’s department of planning and development, which issues birth and death certificates on behalf of the Registrar General of India, said this is a matter of inquiry. “It was the responsibility of the medical superintendent, who is also the registrar of birth and death at AIIMS, to have verified the certificate on the basis of supporting documentary evidence,” said Ravi Shankar, the chief registrar (births and deaths) in Bihar.