Vadodara: Chaos erupted at the mortuary wing of SSG Hospital early Wednesday after relatives of a deceased woman found her body in a severely decomposed condition when they arrived to claim it. The family alleged negligence and accused hospital staff of shifting the body without informing them, leading to the deterioration.

The hospital, however, attributed the incident to a technical malfunction in one of the cold storage units.

According to officials, the body of 78-year-old Ranjan Vyas had been kept in the mortuary since Monday, as her family had requested preservation until her son arrived from the US. When relatives reached the hospital around 8.30 am on Wednesday, they were shocked to find the body decomposed.

Family members claimed the body had initially been placed in one cold chamber but was later moved to another without their knowledge. They alleged that hospital staff failed to provide a satisfactory explanation and behaved rudely when questioned.

The situation escalated into a confrontation, with relatives allegedly assaulting on-duty doctors and staff. Following the incident, doctors from the post-mortem department went on strike in protest, forcing the hospital to shift autopsy work to GMERS Medical College in Gotri.

SSG Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Ranjan Aiyer said the decomposition was caused by a malfunction in the mortuary unit, which failed amid extreme temperatures of 44–45°C. He said the body was shifted to another functional unit to prevent deterioration.

Aiyer condemned the attack on medical staff and announced that a fact-finding committee would be set up to probe the incident and examine whether any negligence occurred.

Meanwhile, a senior Vadodara police official said a formal complaint from either the hospital or the family is awaited before initiating a detailed investigation. DeshGujarat