Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district administration will issue guidelines on the process of disposal of ‘unclaimed’ and ‘unidentified’ dead bodies to Government Wenlock Hospital as per The Karnataka Anatomy Act, 1957 within a week.
The mortuary cold storage of the district hospital has the capacity to keep only 12 dead bodies. However, the increasing number of dead bodies has become a cause for concern for authorities. The hospital gets an average of 400-450 dead bodies each year, and authorities find it difficult to preserve unclaimed and unidentified bodies when there are no claimants.
The issue was brought to light during the meet that a dead body is lying in the cold storage of the hospital mortuary for nearly 75 days. The hospital authorities are neither able to dispose the bodies due to medico-legal issues, nor preserve it due to lack of space. So bad is the state of the mortuary that cold storage racks, which are meant for one body each, are being used to keep more than one body. The issue of increasing number of unclaimed, unidentified dead bodies and lack of cold storage chambers at the hospital was highlighted on February 18.
Deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim and Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat CEO P I Sreevidya held a meeting of Wenlock Hospital authorities, deans of various medical colleges, social activists, representatives of NGOs and religious organizations on Saturday and said guidelines regarding the disposal of unclaimed and unidentified dead bodies will be issued within a week.
Ibrahim directed Wenlock Hospital superintendent Dr H R Rajeshwari Devi to make serious efforts to trace the next of kin of unclaimed and unidentified dead bodies in the hospital mortuary.
“Before preparing to dispose a dead body, serious efforts should be made to trace the claimants. Advertisements with photograph of the dead should be published in leading newspapers. Later, steps should be taken as per The Karnataka Anatomy Act, 1957 to dispose a dead body,” the DC said adding that guidelines will be given to the hospital authorities with regard to disposal of dead bodies as per the Act in a week time.
The DC directed the hospital authorities to display the names of NGOs that are eligible for disposal of unclaimed and unidentified dead bodies near the mortuary. In addition, details of contractors of Mangaluru City Corporation, who bury or cremate dead bodies, also should be displayed near the mortuary, he added.
“I will hold a meeting of police chiefs, DHO and Wenlock Hospital authorities in this regard soon,” Ibrahim said.
Few activists had held protest near the mortuary recently urging the hospital authorities not to hand over unclaimed and unidentified dead bodies to medical colleges.
Dr Rajeshwari Devi said that the hospital follows the government order dated September 17, 2005, with regard to handing over of dead bodies to government/ private medical colleges.
(Courtesy: TOI)
