Few could stomach this photo exhibition

Railway cops put up snaps of bodies of unidentified accident victims, invite relatives of missing people to look at them, but hardly anybody goes beyond a few pics

Few could stomach this photo exhibition

Railway cops put up snaps of bodies of unidentified accident victims, invite relatives of missing people to look at them, but hardly anybody goes beyond a few pics

The Government Railway Police (GRP) at the Pune railway station seem to have received little response for an unusual exhibition they organised to help the kith and kin of deceased accident victims identify the bodies and claim them.

The exhibition had photos of bodies, and it was not a sight for the faint-hearted, to say the least.
The police argue that they had to display such pictures to help people who had not been able to find their acquaintances and relatives for the past several months.

According to an official from the Pune railway station police, many people at the March 31 exhibition could not stand the graphic photographs where pictures of bodies with the most gruesome injuries were shown.

Gory but practical
"Some people simply saw the first photograph and turned away since they didn't have the heart to go further. Even we know what they go through, but this is the most practical way to trace relatives when bodies are not claimed for a certain period of time," said an official from the station on condition ofu00a0 anonymity. The police had also publicised the event in various regional Marathi newspapers.

Most railway accidents involve people falling off running trains, hitting poles while leaning out or falling while boarding a train that has started moving. Such accidents leave bodies that are badly mangled, often beyond recognition.

Body count
Since January this year, the police have received 95 bodies, of which 12 are of females. About 25 of the accidents took place at the Pune railway station alone, while the rest were in other areas, from Lonavla to Ghorpadi. Some bodies are of homeless individuals found on platforms or near railway tracks where death has occurred either because of hunger or excess alcohol consumption.u00a0

Only 46 of these bodies have been identified till date. The unclaimed bodies are burnt in accordance with Hindu rituals. Bodies are first sent to the morgue at the Sassoon General Hospital, where they are kept for about a week. A constable then visits the hospital with the case papers of the incident and takes the body to a local crematorium. In case a dead person is identified after this, the police hand over the belongings to the relatives.

"The police are trying to trace the relatives of the deceased as quickly as possible by investigating the available information," said Senior Police Inspector Mahendra Rokade.