Daijiworld Media Network - Pune
Pune, Oct 17: The Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH) in Pimpri-Chinchwad has suspended a medical officer after a video purportedly showing him intoxicated during a liquor party in the postmortem department surfaced on social media. The incident marks the hospital’s third controversy in a month and the second in a week.
Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi suspended medical officer Dr Vaibhav Mhaske through an order issued on Friday. The order stated that Mhaske was found intoxicated while on duty and had disrupted essential services, including patient care, surgeries and other critical hospital operations.
The action follows the circulation of a video reportedly recorded on October 3, when a daily-wage worker from Dharashiv district died after an accident at a construction site in Thergaon. The worker was taken to YCMH, where he was declared dead on arrival.
The video purportedly shows the deceased’s family requesting Mhaske, who appeared to be intoxicated, to hand over the documents required to claim the body. A liquor bottle can also be seen on a table beside him.
A person claiming to be a friend of the deceased told The Times of India that the family had to wait overnight to receive the body. He alleged that hospital staff demanded money for its release during the night.
“When the family approached the postmortem department for the necessary documents, they were told the body would be handed over only in the morning. If they wanted it at night, they would have to pay,” he alleged.
The video has since circulated widely on social media, prompting demands for strict action against those involved.
Activist Maruti Bhapkar said the incident had damaged the hospital’s reputation and called for a detailed investigation. He also demanded the dismissal of the staff involved, saying strict action was necessary to ensure such conduct was not repeated.
The controversy has also drawn attention to allegations that families are asked to pay money to obtain bodies during night hours. Several social media users have shared accounts of similar experiences.
Child rights activist Yamini Adbe claimed that a friend of hers had been asked by YCMH staff to pay Rs 27,000 to secure the release of a body at night.
The latest incident comes amid criticism over two other videos linked to the hospital in recent weeks. One reportedly showed a homeless patient and the stretcher to which he was strapped falling out of a moving ambulance. Another, recorded on September 22, showed a dhol-tasha performance on the hospital premises.