20 unidentified, unclaimed bodies remain in two Dhaka hospitals

At least 20 bodies of people killed in the violence during the movement to topple the Awami League government are still in three morgues in two Dhaka hospitals.

As the bodies were decomposing, it became hard to identify them. No one has come to ask after them. No preliminary police reports have been prepared as police stations halted service. The decomposed bodies are now starting to sink, reports bdnews24.com.

As many as eight or nine bodies are still in two separate morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and three bodies in Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital morgue in Sher-E-Bangla Nagar.

Two of the nine bodies in the DMCH morgue came from the Kuwait Moitree Hospital while three came from Central Police Hospital. It is assumed that those three were policemen.

 “There’s no scope to identify the bodies as all of them have swollen,” said Ramu Chandra Das, who is responsible for dissecting bodies during post-mortem examinations.

The DMCH falls under the jurisdiction of the Shahbagh Police Station. Salah Uddin Ahmed, a constable at Shahbagh Police Station said the bodies that could be identified after being brought to the police station have already been handed over to their families. Police have yet to determine what to do with about 17 other bodies, he said.

“Some of the bodies remained on the streets for a few days. They swelled up in such a way that it was impossible to collect their biometric data. Three bodies were burnt. Nothing can be done about them,” he said.

Another issue was that the police station service was interrupted, said Constable Salah Uddin. He preferred to send the unidentified bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam – a Bangladeshi welfare organisation - for burial.

 “I told the higher authority that there was only one way to resolve the issue. Issue death certificates labelling them unidentified, collect DNA samples and send the bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam as soon as possible. This will be a relief for the bodies as well as for us. There’s no alternative.”

The DMCH authorities are also facing difficulties regarding the bodies. Police could not prepare the initial Surathal report as they had halted service. And the hospital could not run an autopsy without the police report.

 “We have limited space in out mortuary. Hence, we can’t keep the bodies here for a long time. We’re waiting for the police station to resume its services. If police provides the Surathal report, we can do an autopsy,” said Prof Kazi Golam Mokhlesur Rahman, head of the Forensic Department of DMCH.

 “We’ll keep the DNA samples and send the bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam. Later, if someone claims the bodies, we can test the DNA samples and inform them.”

Shaheed Suhrawardy Hospital Director Prof Md Shafiur Rahman said three bodies were brought to the hospital after Aug 5 which were unidentified. Those were kept in the morgue.

 “The bodies include those of students. That’s why we asked the leaders of the student movement if they could identify the bodies. We need to repair our refrigerator but can’t do it until the bodies are removed. They died during the violence that occurred in the last few days. I can’t tell you what type of injuries they had as I haven’t seen the bodies.”

The media reported the death of around 300 people after Jul 18 when violence broke out across the country following the quota-reform movement. Severe violence occurred in Dhaka on Aug 4 and Aug 5 when the movement began to demand the resignation of the Awami League government.

Many people were shot and killed by police while protesters attacked police stations and torched them. Many policemen also died.

As of Jul 26, Anjuman Mufidul Islam has buried 21 unidentified bodies. Those bodies were sent from DMCH, Mitford Hospital and Suhrawardy Hospital.

When asked if they buried any other unidentified body after Jul 26, Kamrul Ahmed, burial service officer of the organisation, said that he could only make a statement during office hours.

 “Please come to the office tomorrow,” he said.