DNA test to confirm identity of dead man; buried body to be exhumed
Police deny role in body swap
Hyderabad: Police denied any foul play in the swapping of dead bodies at the Osmania General Hospital mortuary. “When Mohammed Saleem’s family approached us with the identification documents and photographs, the mortuary staff handed over the body after verification. Their claim appeared to be valid, and we had to give it away,” said Afzalgunj police inspector C. Anjaiah.
Saleem was a 70-year-old man. Later on December 9, the family of Rafiq, a 55-year-old RTC driver, while checking photographs of unknown dead bodies in the database of an NGO, realised that the body was that of Rafiq's. “We went to the mortuary and they said that the body had already been given away,” said Rafiq’s son-in-law, advocate Arshad Pasha.
Mr Pasha then approached the Afzalgunj police, which has decided to exhume the body to settle the dispute.
“Now the only way to solve this issue is to conduct a DNA test and confirm the identity. We have called both parties and taken a consensus. We will start the procedures on Thursday,” said Afzalgunj police inspector C. Anjaiah.
OGH, cops at loggerheads:
The OGH mortuary authorities and Afzalgunj police are at loggerheads over a body. According to protocol, the mortuary hands over the body to the police. Police officials said that they verified the identity in all possible ways before handing it over.
Meanwhile, an NGO, Raja Harishchandra Foundation, which keeps a data base on unidentified bodies in the city, alleged that around five body misplacement cases have happened in the OGH in the last two-and-half years.
OGH Mortuary Head of the Department, Dr, Taqiuddin Khan said the mortuary has no role in this dispute. “We follow procedures. In this case, Afzalgunj police took the body and handed it over to the family. The body identification and handing over process is done by the police with family members,” he said.
It is difficult to identify a body when it is decomposed. The only way is to match the photograph with the photo given by families. “We keep unidentified bodies for two days after post mortem.
After that, we leave it in the dump room, where it starts decomposing. We have to keep it there for two months. Once decomposition sets in identifying a body is not possible, said OGH Mortuary HoD, Dr, Taqiuddin Khan.
Missing body shocks’ kin:
Retired RTC driver Md. Rafiq’s family had come to know about his death on Tuesday night after browsing through the database of an NGO that keeps track of unknown bodies in the city.
The distressed family members then began preparations for his last rites expecting that they would get the body from the Osmania General Hospital mortuary the next morning.
Meanwhile, the family of Mohammed Saleem, who have received the body, is also confused though they are still sticking to the claim. They did not expect that another family would claim the body and they performed the last rites on December 7 itself.
( Source : dc )
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