DCW notice to Centre, Delhi govt over cases of sudden deaths in country

Taking suo motu cognisance of increasing cases of sudden deaths in the country, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Saturday issued notices to the central and Delhi governments seeking details of any committee constituted to investigate these deaths. "These incidents have raised serious concerns and is being widely speculated that they are somehow connected to COVID-19," the commission said.

Citing media reports, the DCW said in a statement that a bride in her early twenties recently died due to sudden cardiac attack during her marriage ceremony in Lucknow.

Similarly, a 16-year-old teen died while playing cricket and a man died in a temple in Madhya Pradesh while he was doing 'parikrama'.


In this regard, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal has issued notices to the Director General of Health Services of the Union as well as the Delhi government. The commission has also issued notice to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in the matter.

Through the notices, the DCW said that it has sought details of any committee constituted by the stakeholders concerned to investigate these deaths.

It has also sought steps taken to generate awareness among people regarding the cause of such deaths, along with the precautions that people should be advised to take.

According to the DCW, it has asked for the steps taken by the governments to study the long-term impact of the COVID-19 virus on the health of people.

Also, the commission has sought details of the mechanism been setup to ensure that any such sudden deaths are properly investigated by a central forensic and biomedical team so that the cause of such are properly ascertained.

DCW Chief Swati Maliwal stated, "Some unfortunate incidents of sudden deaths have come before the country. Several videos depicting the same are getting viral, where young and old can be seen dying on the spot suddenly while carrying out routine tasks. The cause of such deaths should be urgently investigated. It should be ascertained whether these cases are linked to COVID-19 in any manner."

"The government must make a strategy to deal with such cases and advisories should be issued to the Government informing people about the precautions they are supposed to take," she added.