On 8 September, the Harayana government announced that it would probe whether legal formalities were followed before the Dera Sacha Sauda “donated” four cadavers of its followers to a private medical institute in Lucknow this year.
Anil Vij, the Haryana Health Minister, said that the Director-General (Health Services) has been asked to conduct a “thorough inquiry” into the supply of the bodies, allegedly without death certificates, from 1 January to 31 August to the GCRG Institute of Medical Sciences for anatomical studies, reported the Indian Express.
If the cadavers were sent by the Dera to the medical college, the legal formalities should have been completed. The reason for sending the bodies must be ascertained. Orders have been issued to examine the matter and find out the facts.Anil Vij, the Haryana Health Minister
The probe was announced on the day when the Haryana police and paramilitary forces launched a search operation at the sect’s headquarters in Sirca.
Officials of the GCRG Institute, located 27 km from Lucknow, confirmed that they received 14 cadavers without death certificates from the Dera Sacha Sauda. However, the institute was in possession of ID proof and other documents to validate the donation. Officials also claimed that “several other medical colleges across the state” also benefited from this “service”.
This comes after skeletons were discovered in the sect’s headquarter’s premises on 8 September.
A day before the search operation at the Dera, the sect’s mouthpiece, Sach Kahoon, admitted that human remains were buried inside the premises.
The Dera newspaper, defending the action of the management, said human remains were buried as sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh encouraged followers to donate the remains to the sect and prevent these from being immersed in rivers, etc, to avoid polluting the water bodies.
Some followers, who are no longer a part of the sect, alleged that Ram Rahim got those who opposed him murdered and buried them inside the campus.
In another report, the Dera newspaper spoke about human organ trafficking and how organs were voluntarily donated to the sect. However, these organs are given to medical colleges for anatomical research after following legal procedure.
The manager of marketing and public relations of the GCRG Institute said:
In the last financial year, when this medical college was started with permission for 150 seats, we were facing a shortage of cadavers. We got to know that most of the medical colleges were listed with the Dera Sacha Sauda, which used to ensure that its followers donated their bodies to medical institutes. Like most other colleges, we decided to avail their services. If you check the records of other medical colleges, you would find that 80 percent of them are beneficiaries of this service.
On the lack of death certificates, he said:
Most of these were natural deaths at their homes. We may not have death certificates but we have photocopies of Aadhaar cards and ID proof of not only those who died but also of those who handed over the cadavers, along with affidavits on stamp papers from the families, with photographs and contact numbers. The institute has also kept copies of ambulance receipts for each corpse.
Only payment expected was money for the transportation of the corpses from different parts of Haryana and Punjab to the institute, which sometimes went up to Rs 20,000, sources said.
Sukhmandar Singh from Sirsa’s Kariwali is the son of Sat Singh, a Dera follower whose body was brought to the Lucknow Institute on 18 March.
My father was a follower of the ashram for ages. He had submitted in writing, like many others, to the ashram that he wanted his body to be donated for medical studies. We followed his wish... Once my father passed away, the arrangements were done by the ashram, including the ambulance, photocopies of ID proof, and affidavits.Sukhmandar Singh, son of Dera follower Sat Singh
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