Dabholkar's wish to donate body remains unfulfilled

Dr Narendra Dabholkar, the crusader who waged a war on superstition, wanted to donate his body, but his final wish could not be executed. Sources from B J Medical College, who were to receive the body, said it was not embalmed in time to stop decay. Also, since his death is a medico-legal case, a post-mortem had to be conducted which has rendered the body unfit for academic purposes.

Final goodbye: People from all over Satara turned up to pay their last tributes to Dabholkar before his funeral at the Kailas crematorium. Pic/Krunal Gosavi

The doctor, who did not believe in religious rites, had signed up for donation so medical students could use his body for study. It had been arranged that it would be sent to the anatomy department of B J Medical College. However, after he was shot dead, his body was taken to Sassoon Hospital where an autopsy was conducted on Tuesday afternoon.

A senior doctor from Sassoon Hospital said, "Within four hours of death, the body needs to be embalmed to avoid decomposition. But in Dabholkar's case, it was sent for post-mortem and was then taken to Satara. Crucial time was lost in this process due to which it has started decomposing."

"Another reason for not accepting the body is that when we conduct post-mortem, we need to test samples of organs. After this process, the body becomes ineffective for further academic purposes," he added.