The body of a 26-year-old man, Sushant Malla, was mistakenly handed over to another family by Dr Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari Hospital in Panvel. The mix-up was discovered only when Sushant’s relatives arrived at the hospital to collect his body and found it missing from the mortuary.

According to the police, the incident came to light on Friday, when the Malla family visited the hospital to take custody of the body. Hospital authorities began searching for it inside the mortuary but could not locate it. When they eventually showed a body to the family for identification, it turned out to be that of another man. Investigations later revealed that Sushant’s body had been mistakenly handed over to a Nepali family, who, unaware of the mix-up, had already performed his last rites.