Nearly five days after her death, the family of a woman has refused to claim her body from the mortuary at JJ hospital, citing police apathy. The 35-year-old woman from Vasai succumbed to injuries — sustained when part of an allegedly illegal construction fell on her — on March 22 at Bombay Hospital and her family has accused MBVV police of safeguarding a handful of people allegedly involved. They have claimed that the police are forcing them to claim the body and have pasted a notice on their house saying they will approach Vasai court to end the matter. They want the FIR in the case to be registered on the complaint of the woman`s husband and her post mortem report. The police have registered the FIR on the statement of an autorickshaw driver who was at the spot, the family claimed.

The incident

The deceased Renu Ramesh Gupta, sold vada pav or vegetables in Vasai West. She  was seriously injured when portion of an under-construction building fell on her on March 20. “She was found trapped under the debris. She was rushed to a nearby civic run hospital, but no police officers met us,"said Nirmala Gupta, Renu`s mother-in-law. “A person named Rakesh Gharat, whom we suspect is connected to the builder, met us and asked me not to approach the police or else he would not bear the expenses for medical treatment," said Rekha Gupta, Renu’s sister-in-law.