Thane, July 9: Amid the rising coronavirus case in Maharashtra, a Thane-based municipal corporation hospital mixed up the bodies of two coronavirus victims and district municipality forced one of the families to sign a declaration stating that the mistake was made by both the hospital and the family. Due to the goof-up, one of the families had to go through the cremation process twice in a week.

According to a report, published in the Indian Express, a Thane based hospital made Santosh Sonawane go through the cremation process twice in a week, after his father's death. Sonawane cremated his father on Wednesday, while he had cremated the body of one Balchandra Gaikwad four days ago. Maharashtra Reports 5,134 New COVID-19 Cases, 224 Deaths in Past 24 Hours; State Coronavirus Tally Crosses 2.17 Lakh-Mark.

Realising the goof-up, the Thane municipal corporation asked Sonawane to sign a declaration stating the mistake was made by both the hospital and the family. As per the details, Sonawane received a call from the hospital that his father was alive -- days after the cremation process -- but later stated that his father had succumbed to coronavirus. Following this, Sonawane had gone through the cremation process on Wednesday again.

Meanwhile, Balchandra Gaikwad's family had lodged a complaint at the local police station after they were told that Gaikwad's body had gone missing from the hospital. Balchandra Gaikwad's kin is mulling legal action after the mix-up. However, Thane municipality had managed to get Sonawane to sign a declaration, reported the Mumbai Mirror. With this incident came to light, Thane Mayor Naresh Mhaske wrote a letter to Municipal Commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma and sought an inquiry into the mix-up.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 09, 2020 01:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).