SAD BUT TRUE: NO CLAIMANTS FOR DEAD BODIES PILING UP AT G.M.C.
By Frederick Noronha

PANJIM, Jan 27: In Goa, nobody cares for the dead it seems. Out
of 44 chambers at the morgue in the state's apex Goa Medical
College, some 31 bodies have been lying some for weeks on end
with nobody coming forward to claim them.

Police stations have yet to take action, while the panchayats and
municipalities have responded merely by pointing to their empty
coffers. It is learnt that the Mapusa police station itself has
collected as many as five bodies.

To complicate matters, many bodies are of poor migrants from
other states -- dismissively termed as ghattis by Goan society --
or local indigents. Some bodies found within various police
station areas are still unidentified.

Meanwhile, the GMC authorities are left to cope with the flood of
unclaimed bodies, many of them leaving behind tragic stories of
their own.

In one case, Salma Balgar died of malaria after giving birth at
the GMC hospital's Ward 115. Not only did she leave her unclaimed
body behind, but she left three unclaimed children in the
hospital too.

Likewise, the body of Swizal aka Rosy is still lying at the GMC
morgue. This eight-month-old infant who made it to the headlines
after apparently being bitten to death by kath-muio ants at the
Ribandar-based state government-run Bal Niketan. Police have
meanwhile registered a case of death due to negligence on the
part of the hospital authorities.

In another case, Alex D'Silva from Morjim in Pernem admitted
himself to the GMC, stating that he had cancer of the colon. He
was shifted out of the GMC -- when literally on his death-bed --  
and cared for at Shanti Avedna, the centre for terminally ill
cancer patients run by Catholic nuns.

D'Silva's body has just been given its last rites by social
workers.

On November 9, a dead baby was abandoned by its mother who was
treated in the Goa Medical College.

Meanwhile, the body of British national Michael James Porter
(35), who allegedly committed suicide by cutting his wrists and
hanging himself at Calangute, also awaits to be claimed. Police
said Porter ended his life because he had AIDS.

Another 25-year-old Goan youth from Tiswadi is suspected to have
also committed suicide. Officials who saw what is believed to be
a suicide note say the lone child's father had died and he was
apparently pining for affection, his mother being based in Europe.

Accident victim Ram Bharati (25), who was hit by a vehicle while
on his cycle at Santa Cruz, is another person whose body awaits
to be claimed. His family has left from North India.

Likewise also awaiting being claimed is the body of Norwegian
Skulstad Oystein (27) who died in the Anjuna police station area
on January 25. Authorities are studying whether narcotics or
poisoning was involved.

Some of the bodies have been lying at the morgue from as far back
as September 1999.

Under the law, it is the duty of panchayats and municipalities to
bury or burn animal carcasses or bodies of the deceased, apart
from maintaining general cleanliness. It is learnt that some such
civic bodies simply point to their empty coffers as an alibi for
not doing their job.

This task was being well taken care of during Portuguese times,
and even for some while after Liberation. But now "our elected
representatives seem to care two hoots", said one concerned
official, when approached.

GMC quarters have been trying to get the police and other
authorities to undertake their duty, but the harsh reminders have
yet to work.

If the police so desire, they can dispose off bodies after three
days, provided it is not wanted for further investigations and
there is no dispute over the body. Goa has its Anatomy Act (1976)
too.

GMC has facilities of keeping bodies in the morgue, in cases when
relatives request this. Those claiming the bodies have to pay a
fee of Rs 30 a day.

But after a week or two, the natural process of decomposition
sets in, unless bodies are embalmed by injecting preservatives
through the arteries to reach all parts of the body.

Technically, unclaimed bodies can also be handed over for
the teaching of medical or dental students. But, to do this
legally, the authorities need to ensure there is no legal
claimant, have to get an NOC from the police, and have to ensure
that the cause of death was natural.

In quite a few cases, the bodies lying at the morgue have been
unidentified by the police. These include bodies found under the
Mapusa police station (Oct 18 and Jan 3), Calangute police
station (Nov 8, Dec 9, and Dec 31), GMC Ward 113 (Nov 21), Ponda
police station (Jan 1), Panjim police station (Jan 6 and Jan 11),
and the Old Goa police station (Jan 22), among others. (ENDS)