Kottayam: The body of an infant was recovered from the plastic waste sent to a treatment plant in Ernakulam from hospitals in Kottayam.
The body of the days-old baby was found in the plastic waste collected from Kottayam Medical College Hospital (MCH), according to officials at Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Ltd (KEIL), a government agency that collects and processes garbage.
KIEL workers found the body in a tied-up a plastic bag while segregating the garbage. After checking the batch number on the cover, agency officials realised that the garbage was collected from the Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
Inquiry by Kottayam MCH
Medical College Superintendent Dr T K Jayakumar said that an inquiry would be held into the incident.
The infant was fully-matured with significant hair growth.
Authorities clarified no bodies meeting the description were sent for cremation from the MCH.
The possibility of someone from outside dumping the dead body at the hospital is also being checked. As the provision for storing the body is not available, the agency officials informed that the body would be cremated at the incinerator after taking a photo.
At the Kottayam Medical College, waste is segregated and stored in colour-coded covers. While plastic waste is stored in red covers, bio-medical waste is stored in yellow covers. However, bodies of pre-term babies (death by natural cause) are usually transferred in yellow plastic cover to the mortuary and stored in a freezer. The cremation of such premature babies take place once the freezer reaches full capacity. The MCH authorities have clarified that the freezer was not cleared in any of the recent days.
Bodies of babies who died from unnatural causes will be released to the police for autopsy.
Authorities have raised suspicion about the incident as recent hospital records do not include the details of such a baby. Parents or relatives of the infant have not raised a claim on the body either.
