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Identity crisis of the dead

IMRUL HASAN
The concerned authorities often consider unidentified dead bodies as not important enough for pursuing identity. The corpses usually lie in the morgue of a hospital for days before they are ultimately buried.
Most dead persons brought to the morgue of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) by the police are usually victims of different accidents or crime. If after a certain period no one claims them and police fail to trace the identity, the body is handed over to Anjuman Mofidul Islam and recorded as an unidentified.
There have been complaints that the bodies are kept uncared for at the DMCH for days but mortuary assistant of the morgue denied that.
"After getting the dead body the police identifies it and gives it to us for postmortem. After the autopsy, we keep the body in a refrigerator. It is then transferred to the Anjuman Mofidul Islam almost immediately. So there are no scopes for negligence. Proper instruments are however needed at the morgue. The air cooler has to be repaired and the drainage system needs improvement."
As it is impossible to keep a dead body at the morgue for a long time because of its lack of capacity, the Anjuman Mofidul Islam come to the morgue almost daily to receive corpses many of which are not identified.
"We have no arrangements for preserving bodies for a long period. That is why we bury the dead as early as possible after receiving it," said an official of Anjuman Mofidul Islam.
According to sources, almost 10 to 15 dead bodies arrive at the DMCH morgue everyday and atleast two of those are unidentified on an average.
"Dead bodies from different road mishaps, suspected murder victims, bomb explosion victims and bodies of floating people who die normally are brought to the morgue and most unidentified corpses belong to those categories," an official of the morgue said.
"The unidentified corpses are not treated in the same way in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India. Proper initiative is taken by government agencies to find out the identity of the person. Photographs are published in newspapers and announcements are made on radio and television. But there are no such arrange-
ments here," he added.
At present the photography section of the Detective Branch (DB) of police keeps the graphic record of unidentified dead bodies. A few have been identified through this process. Relatives or near ones of missing persons collect information from the morgue at first and then go to the concerned police station. After collecting a copy of the General Diary, they contact the DB office. Sometimes the lucky ones get the desired information after rummaging through hundreds of photos.
"It is not our responsibility to inform the relatives of a dead person whose body is lying at the morgue. It is the duty of the police. If we get any address regarding the dead, only then we inform the relatives," said Brigadier General Sarker MA Matin, the director of DMCH.