A newspaper clipping is going viral on social media with the claim that Apollo Hospital refused to hand over the dead body of a woman named Shanti to her sister Savitri because the hospital bill was unpaid. Shanti’s body was kept in the mortuary. Savitri kept pleading for her sister’s body, but the hospital insisted that the bill must be paid first. Savitri then requested the hospital staff to either keep her as collateral or let her work at the hospital in exchange, but to please release her sister’s body.
Sharing the newspaper clipping, the handle Mamta Rajgarh wrote, “Keep looking at the benefits of privatization, this is just the trailer, the picture is yet to come.” (Archived link)
निजीकरण के फायदे देखते जाओ ये तो ट्रेलर हैं पिक्चर अभी बाकी हैं pic.twitter.com/sYJhUCqjlU
— ममता राजगढ़ (@rajgarh_mamta1) April 5, 2025
Another handle @/Margdata8705 stated, “Everybody’s turn will come. The power of EVM will make someone face such a situation.” (Archived link)
सबका नंबर आएगा
— बामसेफ एक विचारधारा (@margdata8705) April 3, 2025
ईवीएम की ताकत किसी को ऐसी परिस्थिति का सामना कराएंगी pic.twitter.com/0aPx5glzLY
Jodhraj Meena asserted, “Government institutions being sold and the growing privatization of the institution Whatever happened to this sister today, you wait for your turn tomorrow. The government should adopt a strict attitude towards such private hospitals, firstly they extort money from people at will do as you please from above.” (Archived link)
बिकते हुए सरकारी संस्थान…..
— Jodhraj Meena🇮🇳 (@badgoti_jr) April 6, 2025
और बढ़ते हुए निजीकरण संस्थान
इस बहन के साथ जो आज हुआ है कल तुम अपनी बारी का इंतजार करना
ऐसे प्राइवेट हॉस्पिटलों पर सख्त रवैया अपनाना चाहिए सरकार को एक तो यह लोगों से मन घडत रुपया ऐंठते हैं
ऊपर से अपनी मनमानी करते हैं pic.twitter.com/xcaswyd0OE
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Fact Check
We began our fact-checking process by conducting a reverse image search of the newspaper clipping. The search led us to a Facebook post shared by the National Crime Investigation Bureau on 30 March 2018. The caption read, “Words like humanity and compassion are now only seen on social media. Private hospitals like Apollo have turned into merchants of death. These people turn a living person into a corpse and even charge for the corpse. This isn’t a film where some Gabbar Singh will come forward to confront them.”
To further investigate, we used relevant keywords related to the case and found a report by Dainik Bhaskar published on 28 March 2016. According to the article, Even after countless pleas, when the Apollo management refused to hand over Shanti’s body, the deceased’s sister, Savitri, made a desperate appeal to the doctors, saying, “Make me work at the hospital for however long you want, take me as collateral, but please give me my sister’s body. Don’t hold it hostage. We have no money left. Everything we had was spent on the treatment.”
Despite this, the hospital administration remained unmoved. The report stated that Apollo insisted on full payment within seven days and kept the body in their mortuary. Savitri Gandhi, along with a family friend, Kailash Sahu, continued pleading for the body to be released. Initially, the hospital denied the request without bill clearance. Eventually, they asked for a written assurance that the payment would be made within a week.
The article further mentions that Savitri said their financial condition was so dire that paying ₹2,19,000 within seven days was impossible. She requested that no fixed deadline be imposed, which led to a commotion at the hospital. Finally, an agreement was reached that the body would be released once the money was arranged.
When confronted by the media over the perceived apathy toward the grieving family, Apollo’s Public Relations Officer, Devesh Gopal, said, “No pressure was made to deposit the bill.”
To the question, “Did the management pressure the family to pay the bill?”, Gopal responded, “Apollo management did not exert any force for the money to be deposited.”
When asked, “Then why was the body denied to the family?”, he explained, “If the payment wasn’t being made, we needed documentation so that it would be easier for the management to proceed later. That’s why a written assurance was requested. When the deceased’s relatives refused, the body wasn’t released.”
To the question, “Then why was the body handed over at 12 noon later?”, Gopal said, “After an explanation, the family gave a written statement assuring they would pay the bill. Only then was the body handed over.”
Finally, when asked, “Even after being informed that liver treatment wasn’t available, did the family still accuse the hospital of withholding Shanti?”, Gopal responded, “They were informed that liver transplant facilities were not available at this hospital. The only treatment for the illness was a liver transplant.”
| Claim | A woman pleaded with Apollo Hospital to release her sister’s dead body, even offering to be held as collateral. |
| Claimed by | Social media users |
| Fact Check | This 9-year-old incident involves Apollo Hospital initially refusing to release Shanti’s body over unpaid bills of ₹2.19 lakh. Her sister Savitri pleaded desperately, offering to work or be held as collateral. The hospital later agreed to release the body on the promise that dues would be paid later. |
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