In death, Somnath Chatterjee keeps his pledge, donates body and eyes

Chatterjee's body was last evening donated to the Anatomy Department of the SSKM hospital here by his family members.

The veteran leader passed away at the age of 89 following multiple organ failure.

"The body has been embalmed to protect it from decomposition. Before that, a surgeon from the plastic surgery department retrieved Chatterjee's skin, which could benefit not just medical students, but also patients with burn injuries," Dr Asis Ghoshal, head of the Anatomy department at the hospital, said.

Chatterjee's daughter Anushila Bose said she was told that part of her father's skin was grafted today on a burn case patient.

"I heard part of father's skin has been grafted on a burn case patient today. Nothing can be more fulfilling. This is what my father had always wished in his life," she said.

SSKM authorities, when contacted, did not confirm the skin grafting case.

Much like his mentor and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu, Chatterjee had pledged to donate his body in early 2000 at the age of 73.

Basu passed away in 2010 at the age of 95.

Ghoshal said the former speaker's corneas were donated to the Priyamvada Birla Aravind Hospital.

"Every part of Chatterjee's body will be used for education and research programmes. We are preserving his bones and organs as per norms," he added.