Controversy over handing over veteran CPM leader’s body to medical college
Thiruvananthapuram: Tense moments unfolded at Kochi's Town Hall due to a dispute regarding the transfer of veteran CPM leader M M Lawrence's body to Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital.
The dispute emerged from a family disagreement about donating the Marxist veteran's body to the medical college. While two of Lawrence's children supported the decision, another daughter Asha Lawrence contested it, insisting that her father should be interred in the cemetery alongside her mother.
Previously, his daughter Asha approached the Kerala High Court, seeking an injunction against transferring her father's body to Kalamassery Medical College. The court mandated moving the body to the medical college's mortuary and instructed the authorities to decide according to Anatomy Act and protocol.
However, the body will not be utilized for educational purposes until the case is resolved.
The CPM leader's body, who died in Kochi at 95 on Saturday, was placed at the Town Hall for public tribute.
Previously, his daughter Asha approached the Kerala High Court, seeking an injunction against transferring her father's body to Kalamassery Medical College. The court mandated moving the body to the medical college's mortuary and instructed the authorities to decide according to Anatomy rules. However, the body will not be utilized for educational purposes until the case is resolved.
Asha Lawrence, who was lying on the casket to prevent party volunteers from moving it, was eventually forcibly removed. During the turmoil, she fell, leading to a minor scuffle between her son and the party workers.
Meanwhile, CPM volunteers, including women, continued to chant in honor of the late leader.
In her High Court petition, Asha argued that her father's body should not be given to the medical college for academic use, as he had not consented. "I'm unsure if my father had such a wish. Had my mother been alive, she would have never agreed to this," Asha stated, also advocating for her father's burial in the church.
M L Sajeevan, M M Lawrence's son, informed the press that his father had expressed a desire for his body to be donated to the medical college for the benefit of medical students.
Earlier, hundreds of people including workers paid their last respects to the veteran communist leader at the CPM Ernakulam district headquarters Lenin Centre.