mid-day impact: Mumbai police directed to dispose of unclaimed bodies without delay

Hawaldar Ware (blue shirt) with his team members, who were recently given PPE kits, at a Sion crematorium. Ware has been getting calls from several police stations for disposals

Unclaimed bodies will no longer wait for weeks and months at Mumbai's mortuaries before cremation. Spurred by a mid-day report, the city police have in the past few days disposed of about 70 bodies, few of them decomposed, lying in morgues. All 94 police stations in Mumbai have been told to treat unidentified and unclaimed bodies as accidental deaths and expedite their disposal.

In its report ‘Unclaimed bodies at Mumbai mortuaries need clearance for disposal: Forensic surgeons' of April 21, mid-day had highlighted the sad state affairs over these bodies.

Since the past three days, Hawaldar D P Ware, 52, and his two associates Manoj Valmiki, 28, and his colleague Sunil Sharma, 22, have cremated 30-plus unclaimed and unidentified bodies. With the new directive, Ware and his team's waiting time at crematoriums has also come down.

Ware, who was recently promoted, said they have been getting several calls from police stations in the South and Central regions, for disposal of unclaimed bodies. "I am told that the directives have come from the police headquarters and hence the police stations are in a hurry to get the bodies in mortuaries cleared."

Ware added, "We have cremated and buried 33 bodies. On Monday, we disposed of 16 bodies, including 10 from KEM and the rest from JJ and Sion hospitals. JJ which has a hospital and police surgeon mortuaries will still have about 50 such bodies. A small number is also pending at KEM and Sion."

Ware said since the directive is for the entire city, bodies from Eastern and Western suburbs may also be getting disposed of. Apart from a shorter waiting period and the freedom to go to wood- and electricity-fired crematoriums, he is happy that his associates have now got PPE kits.

Dr Rajesh Dhere, who heads the department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at LTMG or Sion hospital, batted for a permanent solution. "An ACP level officer should be given the responsibility to clear disposal of unidentified and unclaimed bodies in 15 days, if it remains unidentified or if the body is not required for any further investigation. Within this time period, the local police station where an accidental death is registered u/s 174 of Criminal Procedure Code should be able to identify the deceased and trace the relatives so that the body can be handed over to next of kin for the last rites," he said.

Dr Dhere, who is also the secretary of Medico Legal Association of Maharashtra, said inadvertent delays at present lead to such bodies getting stuck at morgues for months.

Dr Shailesh Mohite, the president of Medico Legal Association of Maharashtra, said, "The need of the hour is that the disposal of bodies should happen at police station levels by the investigating officer, and the senior inspector or incharge of the police station should ensure the same is getting executed by his subordinate officer."

He expressed concerns over the fact that some accident or suicide victims have been found to be Covid-19 positive in Truenet tests. In such cases, one has to be extra careful with the disposal, said Dr Mohite.

A forensic surgeon from a suburban post-mortem centre said, "We have 40-plus unclaimed bodies in the mortuary. Ideally, a body should be disposed of between 15-30 days, but the city has only three hearse vans. A delay will result in bodies getting decomposed which could infect fresh bodies." The surgeon added, "Many NGOs and individuals are willing to do the final rites of unclaimed and unidentified bodies with dignity for free. The police can also use their services if a need arise."

Police Surgeon and medico legal advisor to the state Dr S M Patil said he has received on May 3 a letter from the office of the Joint Commissioner of Police (L&O) on the immediate disposal of unclaimed and unidentified bodies. "Accordingly, we have started disposing of several bodies. In the next few days, the pendency of bodies in mortuary will come down drastically. It is unfortunate that a senior IPS officer needs to issue special notifications for something that could have been otherwise dealt easily by the senior inspector of each police station."

Dr Indrajit Khandekar, Professor of Forensic Medicine at MGIMS, Sewagram, said inordinate delay over disposal is a violation of a 2013 Supreme Court order directing appropriate cremation or burial of unclaimed bodies. He said, "Various states have rules saying if a body remains unclaimed for 48-72 hours, then the authorised person shall immediately take steps to dispose of it as per rules."

Dr Khandekar added, "Where investigation is required as per 174 of CrPC, then a body can be disposed of after following the procedure prescribed in CrPC."

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No. of bodies disposed of by Ware and his team on Monday