Probe into shoddy burials begins amid blame game

Collector R Maheswari told DT Next that corrective measures would be taken and those responsible for the haphazard burials that posed a serious health hazard would be taken to task. “As a first step, we will clear the body pieces that have been dug out by animals and evolve a proper mechanism for burials of the accident victims,” the district collector said.

However, the district health officials and the police blamed one another for the sordid state of affairs in Basheer Nagar in Tiruvallur.

Joint Director (Health) Dr Dayalan said that the usual procedure for the government hospitals was to hand over the bodies to the police after autopsy. “Once we receive an unclaimed body, we keep it in the morgue until the police trace the victim’s kin. 

If the police are unable to trace the victim’s kin after a week or so, they usually put out the details of the victim in the media and wait for some more time. If there is no response even after that, it is declared as an unknown body. Thereafter, a post-mortem examination is held, and the body is handed over to the police,” he said.

However, the Tiruvallur district police officials claimed that while the police were involved in the disposal of these corpses as per procedure, it was a joint effort by both the departments. “We usually engage those working in graveyards and coordinate with them,” a senior police official said.

The residents hope that the both the health and police department realise that there ought to be dignity in death even if it is an unclaimed body and make sure that the burial is done in such a proper manner and not allow dogs and pigs gain access to the area.