Unclaimed bodies at Mumbai mortuaries need clearance for disposal: Forensic surgeons

Unclaimed bodies being taken for disposal

Unclaimed bodies have started piling up at city mortuaries, and what is worse is that the local cops, already overburdened with COVID duty, have no time to clear them for disposal. This is slowly becoming a major concern for forensic surgeons and staff working at the mortuaries, as they fear getting infected, and their pleas are going unheard.

The city has 10 mortuaries - Rajawadi, Cooper, Siddarth, Bhagwati and JJ centres come under the Mumbai police surgeon's jurisdiction, four medical colleges - BYL Nair, KEM, LTMG and HBT Medical College are under the civic corporation's jurisdiction and three centres - St George Hospital, G T Hospital and Grant Medical College & JJ group of hospitals are under the state government. As per data, each mortuary has unclaimed bodies anywhere between five and 40, awaiting disposal. Some of the forensic surgeons and even staff at the mortuaries have already got infected with COVID-19. Two forensic surgeons attached to the Rajawadi and Cooper post-mortem centres are currently undergoing treatment.

Still awaiting action

Speaking to mid-day, a forensic surgeon attached to a civic-run medical college, said, "The issue of disposal of unclaimed bodies has been persisting for quite some time and amidst the rising number of cases, the local cops and even the senior zonal officials are not taking cognizance of the issue. Last week our department had sent a letter to the DCP, highlighting the issue of unclaimed bodies, but we are still awaiting action from his end."

The surgeon added, "Even the cops now are reluctant to probe the unidentified and unclaimed bodies. Instead of registering accidental death cases under section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the police are keen on handing over the bodies to relatives along with form no 4 for disposal. We at the post-mortem centres cannot certify such deaths, especially if someone has died due to an unnatural cause. An autopsy is a must. Also, apart from doing mandatory antigen tests, we also conduct TrueNat tests for COVID-19. The antigen test result may be a false negative, but the deceased might still be a carrier of the virus, hence a TrueNat test gives a clearer picture. We conduct the post-mortem thereafter, but until and unless the police identify the body and grant permission for disposal, it cannot be disposed."

In decomposed state

Another forensic surgeon from a suburban post-mortem centre said, "We have around 40 plus unclaimed bodies in the mortuary, and some of them are in a decomposed state. As per norms, within seven days the police are expected to identify the deceased and the relatives as well. The time period can be extended by another seven days, but at least within a month, the body should be disposed of."
Mumbai Police Surgeon Dr S M Patil admitted that unclaimed bodies were lying in mortuaries. "We have about five to 35 bodies in the mortuaries under my jurisdiction and time and again, we have asked the local cops to dispose them of."

The solution to this, according to a senior forensic surgeon is, "The civic body, executive health officer of the city, Joint Police Commissioner (administration) and Police Surgeon, who is also the technical head for all post-mortem centres in the city, should come up with a concrete plan of disposal of unclaimed bodies at the earliest, or else the situation will turn grim. Unclaimed bodies are lying for months together, which will eventually cause space issues, health hazards for mortuary staff and adversely impact medico-legal autopsy work, which is an area of concern."

When contacted, a senior police officer said, "The DCP (operation) is supposed to inform all police stations about disposal of unclaimed bodies. The hospitals can make a police station-wise list of unclaimed bodies and send it to the DCP (operation)." Attempts to contact DCP (operation) S Chaitanya did not yield any result.

NamUs provides a ray of hope in US

The National Institute of Justice's - National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), is a national centralised repository and resource centre for missing persons and unidentified decedent records. NamUs is a free online system that can be searched by medical examiners, coroners, law enforcement officials and the general public from all over the country in the hopes of resolving these cases. The public can register to search and report information in the missing-persons database and can also search information about unidentified persons. Law enforcement officials, coroners, medical examiners and other professionals may register to search and report information in the missing and unidentified persons database. More than two-thirds of the 10,000 registered NamUs users are members of the general public.