New Delhi: On January 23, 2020, Delhi police found a 55-year-old man lying unconscious in Nehru Place.
He rushed to AIIMS, where the doctor said he died.
The police tried, did not succeed, to find out about his family and even publish details about the man’s physical appearance and what he was wearing on that day, but no one advanced to claim the body for a week.
Finally, the police finished post-mortem and cremated the person.
A month later, a woman in his 20-son contacted the police who claimed to die was his father, but he was not sure because he was not related to him for years.
Fortunately for him, AIIMS, who runs a pilot project to make DNA databases from all the missing or unknown people who are brought to the Institute for Post-Mortem, have saved the man’s profile.
When it was matched with the woman’s DNA, it turned out that the man stated ‘unknown’ indeed his father.
“Revelation brings the closure to women who should live with uncertainty whether his father is still alive or die,” Dr.
Sudhir Gupta, Head of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department, to Ti.
TionView This is a very necessary step and the welcome step.
DNA databases can help solve cold cases and help families find closure even years or decades later, he added, they could identify other people found in conditions decomposed at Yamuna banks in the south of East Delhi.
“His family approached the police after reading the notice of missing people.
The deceased is their son,” said Dr.
Gupta.
AIIMS, working with the Indian Board of Research Medical (ICMR), has started a pilot project called UMID (an unknown body and identification of missing people and DNA databases).
Until now, he has created a database of more than 414 unknown people.
Dr.
Chittaranjan Behera, additional professors and project project investigators, said the aim was to create a similar DNA database in all Mortuari in the country.
The body that is not claimed / unknown refers to one that has not been claimed by close relatives or personal friends within 48 hours.
Usually, this body was cremated by the police after 72 hours.
Dr.
Behera said on average, around 40,000 bodies went unclaimed / unknown every year in this country.
AIIMS Delhi conducts almost 1,700 autopsy every year.
This, the doctor said, 150-200 cases were an unknown body.
Dr.
Behera said it was sometimes difficult to identify the body from the physical appearance or characteristic recorded by the police.
DNA databases can help with this.
AIIMS has created a portal where the phenotype (height, facial features, hair color), photos, details about tattoos and scars uploaded.
Families can approach investigative authorities or hospitals.
“This project will help identify many people and provide closure to families of unknown people or not claimed,” According to Dr.
Behera.