Despite 18 reminders, cops are yet to dispose unclaimed bodies in Sion

Even after 18 reminders from the civicrun Lokmanya Tilak Hospital at Sion, the police have not yet disposed three unclaimed bodies lying in the morgue over three months.

With two mortuary attendants suffering from tuberculosis and many others falling ill often, the head of the post-mortem centre says that the staff are exposed to infections due to these decaying corpses.

A government regulation clearly states that unclaimed bodies must be disposed of after seven days, unless required for solving crimes, or if the police have clues which make identification possible. According to the hospital, however, police tend to wash their hands of a body once it's sent to the morgue.

"It's the responsibility of the assistant commissioner of police to ensure that police stations under him dispose unclaimed bodies in time. But the police simply don't bother," said Dr Rajesh Dere, who heads Sion hospital's PM Centre.

The body of a 35-year-old Bangladeshi woman has been in the morgue for 122 days, and the Manpada police from Dombivli have not come forward to dispose it.

The second unclaimed body is of a man identified as Ravi Kanse. It has been there for 123 days, and the Vakola police have not turned up so far.

The body of 50-year-old man identified as Ramesh Dudani has been there for 80 days, and the Antop Hill police are yet to do the needful.

"We've written six letters to each of these police stations. We also wrote to senior inspectors, the ACP and even Deputy Commissioner of Police, but to no avail," said Dr Dere.

According to him, these three bodies apart, all other bodies too have been there beyond the permissible time limit. "Almost 99 per cent of bodies have been here for over seven days," said Dr Dere. He added that the morgue has 29 cabinets which accommodate one body at a time, but with five to six more bodies at any given time, they have to somehow cram the bodies in the cabinets.

Experts say that despite being kept in a morgue, bodies begin decomposing after two months. This puts other recently brought bodies at risk of quicker decomposition.

"Also, the staff have to enter the premises over 20 times a day. While the stench is unbearable, the risk of infection is higher due to the bodies kept there for long," Dr Dere added.

Friday 24 May 2013

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