‘Treatment to Polish man’s body bad for India’
DEHRADUN: The alleged “passing around” of the body of the Polish mountaineer who died last week while being rescued in the Uttarakhand Himalayas may cause a huge dent on India’s image, experts said on Tuesday.
The deceased, Lukasz Chrzanowski, was a part of the five-member team of mountaineers from Poland who had set out on an expedition to Mt Shivling (6543 meters) – considered one of the most challenging Himalayan peaks – in Uttarkashi district. Lukasz got stranded on way to the peak and died during a rescue operation on October 13.
However, his post-mortem was conducted only on the night of October 17 – three days after his body was recovered and allegedly “passed around” from one place to the other. The body was handed over to the representatives of the Polish Embassy on Tuesday.
“Since it involves a foreign expedition, the kind of treatment meted out to the dead mountaineer’s body will send out a very bad message internationally, not just about Uttarakhand but also about India,” said retired bureaucrat SS Pangtey, who is considered an authority on the region’s adventure tourism.
“The authorities should have made it a point to ensure swift (post-mortem) procedure and handing over of the body (to the family),” he added.
Janusz Golomb, Polish mountaineer and a part of the expedition team, was miffed with his friend’s body being sent from one place to the other. “His (Lucasz’s) parents, wife and three daughters are waiting for him, but his body was referred from here to there. I don’t know what to do,” Golomb told HT’s sister concern Hindustan outside the GDMC Hospital’s mortuary on Monday. DELAY IN AUTOPSY Lukasz’s body was recovered and flown to the Tapovan base camp on October 14. On the next day, it was again flown to Harsil, from where it was sent to Uttarkashi district headquarters, around 75 km away, via road, officials said.
Doctors at the Uttarkashi district hospital conducted an “external post-mortem” (or preliminary examination) on the intervening night of October 15-16 but “referred” the body to Dehradun.
“Tests like CT Scan and MRI would have been required apart from actual post-mortem as proofs for seeking medical claims (by his family). Since our hospital lacks the facilities, we had to refer the body to Dehradun,” a senior official of the Uttarkashi district hospital told HT on the condition of anonymity.
The body was then sent to Dehradun, around 200 km away, by road on October 16, he added.
In Dehradun, doctors at the Government Doon Medical
Authorities should have ensured swift (postmortem) procedure and handed over his body (to Chrzanowski’s family) SS PANGTEY, retired bureaucrat
College (GDMC) Hospital conducted the required tests on October 17, after which his body was sent to the Coronation Hospital where the autopsy was conducted on Monday night, Dr Neeraj Kumar, assistant professor (forensic medicine) at GDMC who led the autopsy, said.
Chief medical officer (CMO) of Dehradun Dr Y S Thapliyal, however, denied that there was any ‘delay’ in carrying out the autopsy. “The body arrived in Dehradun late on Sunday. The next day, we first conducted the tests and then the autopsy. We were required to follow many formalities (it being an international case), which included a lot of paperwork, videography and empanelling different doctors (for the post-mortem), which was bound to take time,” he said.
In an email reply to HT, Jaroslaw J Groberek from the Press Office of the Polish Embassy, however, said: “We would like to express (our) gratitude to the authorities of India for their noteworthy engagement in the rescue operation followed by professional treatment of the mortal remains of the late climber…
Remains of the deceased were transported to Delhi on Tuesday and the cremation ceremony was to be conducted there later in the day.”
Meanwhile, the search for the second missing Polish mountaineer, who is feared dead, has been called off for now.