Victoria Hospital, Bangalore

photo: The Hindu

Everyone who has been to Victoria Hospital knows how pathetic the conditions are. Well, the dental unit has the best facilities. And in most cases it is helpful to the poor. Not everyone can afford the expenses at multi specialty hospitals. So Victoria Hospital has people from all over the state 24/7. It's a Government Hospital. Any police case goes straight to the Government Hospital. That's the rule. I visited the Victoria Hospital Mortuary for the first time a couple of days back. All the disturbing images there have given me sleepless nights. The clothes covering the dead bodies are dumped right in front of the mortuary. The foul smell is spread across a large area. There is also a guard to the mortuary and he has two innocent kids with his wife. The kids play where those clothes are dumped. There are blood stains everywhere. Negative energy never dies. Those kids are no strangers to disturbing images of people crying and shouting. Dead bodies are just another addition in the environment. Blood is not feared. Police, media, murderers, robbers - the kids are growing up watching all this. I'm concerned. I'm also helpless.

There are guidelines written on the walls of the mortuary both in Kannada and in English. It stresses that no money is charged for postmortem reports and that it's done free of cost in an hour of the submission of police reports. But I saw money given and taken under the table without counting. At the hour of grief, the person has to bribe the officers to get the body of their loved ones. How ridiculous can it get? How insensitive can people be? I was totally aware of what was happening. I can't pretend not to have seen what actually happened. People who have money will easily give money and get their work done. But what about those who can't afford? Why is the system so unfair to the poor? I'm concerned. I'm helpless again.