The Suva Morgue Services has released a statement denying claims made by a Navua family that the body of their loved one was switched.

The Morgue Services says there has been no mistake or switching of the bodies by their staff as claimed by the family.

In a statement released yesterday by Lanieta Cakacaka, it says there is a procedure followed by Suva Morgue Services Private Limited whenever a body is to be released.

She says the next of kin have to provide the death certificate of the deceased and the body is then taken out of the freezer and identification is done by the next of kin.

She says the person who comes to receive the body needs to fill in a Decease Release Identification Register form and then the body is taken by the family members for final rites.

Cakacaka says in the Navua case, the deceased was identified by a Shanil Chand who had presented the death certificate and had seen the body before taking it for funeral after signing the Decease Release Identification Register form.

She further says the family members of the deceased have conducted the prayers and the coffin was opened to allow family members and friends to sight the body before it was cremated.

However, FBC News sought clarification again from the family who maintain that they never opened the coffin at any time.

Deceased, Rajnil Chand’s brother Rohit Chand says he had identified his brother’s body on Tuesday during the post mortem examination and the body was released to Shanil Chand.

However, he says they were strictly told not to unwrap the body and thus they had not seen the body at any time during the funeral rites.