Thursday 28 November 2013

Two months on, unidentified body lies preserved at JJ morgue


Two months after the Babu Genu building collapse in the Dockyard Road area, the body of an unidentified male continues to remain in the cold preservation unit of the state-run JJ hospital's morgue.

The man, along with 61 residents in the building, had succumbed to suffocation and multiple injuries after the ground-plus-four-storey building caved in early morning on September 27. All 61 bodies were identified and claimed by respective families.

According to the hospital's forensic department, the body was sent for DNA analysis to Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory more than a month ago. Dr M K Malve, director of the laboratory, said, "The genetic analysis results have been handed over to the Sewri police. If a relative comes to claim the body, DNA sampling can be done and the body can be handed over."

A fortnight after the collapse, claims of a BMC peon — Vijay Narayan Jadhav's body going missing — had come up. While Vijay Narayan was the same age as the unidentified body, his uncle Vijay Dhondu Jadhav claimed that it was not his nephew's.

"We have a capacity for storing 130 bodies, of which the hospital has space for 45 bodies and police department can keep 85. Until we get a police notification, we will keep it preserved," said Dr Ashok Rathore, acting dean in JJ hospital.

Usually, a body is kept for a week or so, this body has been preserved for two months now. Sunil Babar, additional commissioner of police, Wadala division, said, "We usually wait for a month at the most and then cremate unidentified bodies. However, this case is serious and anyone can come to claim the body as well as BMC's compensation. Therefore investigations are still on." The only identification known to the doctors, so far, is that the body may be of a Muslim in his early 40s.

Thursday 28 November 2013

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/two-months-on-unidentified-body-lies-preserved-at-jj-morgue/1200549/

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