Kochi: The Kerala High Court said that a woman’s body, which was donated to a medical college for educational purposes, could not be returned to relatives based on the demand of some of her children.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas made this observation while rejecting a petition filed by three among the seven children of a deceased woman belonging to Kochi seeking the return of her body to carry out a funeral as per religious rites.

While issuing the order, the court said that the willingness of a person to donate the body after death could not be reversed based on the wishes of that person’s offspring. The judge also pointed out that there was no dispute over the fact that the woman had prepared a legal document in the presence of two of her children, which said that, after her death, her body should be handed over to the Ernakulam Medical College for study purposes. Subsequently, after her death on February 23 this year, the principal of the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, accepted her body based on this document.

Soon, three of the seven children of the woman approached the High Court, alleging that the body was donated to the Medical College by some of their other siblings without their consent.