Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences (2013) 3, 112–115

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Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences

journal homepage: www.ejfs.org

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Unidentified bodies in autopsy – A disaster in disguise

a,*
Saurabh Chattopadhyay , Biplab Shee b, Biswajit Sukul b

a
Department of Forensic Medicine, Murshidabad Medical College, Berhampore, West Bengal 742101, India
b
Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical College Kolkata, West Bengal 700073, India

Received 17 February 2013; revised 15 April 2013; accepted 10 May 2013

Available online 17 June 2013

KEYWORDS Abstract Medico legal autopsies are conducted in all cases of unnatural deaths and unidentified
Death; bodies. The case load of unidentified bodies in autopsy at Calcutta is quite alarming. The profile
Unidentified body; of such cases has rarely been studied in India. The present study attempts to find out the circum-
Autopsy stances and fate of the unidentified bodies on whom medico legal autopsies were conducted. One
fourth (614) of all the cases brought for autopsy were unidentified at the time of postmortem exam-
ination. Subsequently, 109 cases were identified and the rest remained unidentified. The peak age
group of the deceased was 31–45 years and the majority of them were males. Identity of the victims
was possible only within the first week after autopsy. The family members were the ones to identify
the deceased and the male members of the family were the commonest one to identify the victims.
Natural death (48.3%) due to disease and pathological condition was the leading cause of death
whereas among the unnatural causes, drowning (28.4%) was the commonest cause. The present
study revealed that the homeless street dwellers of the city formed a substantial portion of the
unfortunate victims.
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1. Introduction prints, forensic photography, DNA analysis and superimposi-

One of the primary objectives of medico legal autopsy is iden-
tification of the deceased in unidentified cases. Establishment
of identity in all such cases takes team work where the autopsy
surgeon collects the data for identification. In addition, finger-
* Corresponding author. Address: 23/12 Gariahat Road, Bally-
gunge, Kolkata 700029, India. Tel.: +91 9433968710.
E-mail address: chattopadhyaydrs@rediffmail.com (S. Chattopad-
hyay).
Peer review under responsibility of Forensic Medicine Authority.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
2090-536X ª 2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Forensic Medicine Authority.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejfs.2013.05.003
tion help to achieve the goal of victim identification.1 The
‘‘NamUs’’2 organization–The National Missing and Unidenti-
fied Persons System in the United States–is a national reposi-
tory for records about missing persons and unidentified dead
people which helps in the identification of unidentified persons.
In cases of mass disasters, the issue of unidentified bodies
comes to the forefront. On the other hand, little importance
is given where autopsies are regularly conducted on unidenti-
fied bodies all throughout the year. Ritter3 has described it
as a ‘‘silent mass disaster’’. The case load of unidentified bodies
in autopsy at Calcutta is quite alarming. To date, no study has
been conducted in West Bengal, India, regarding the unidenti-
fied bodies undergoing postmortem examination. The presence
of a large number of homeless street dwellers in the city might
have contributed in some way or the other to the case load as
Unidentified bodies in autopsy – A disaster in disguise
well as in the cause of death of the unfortunate victims. The
present study was undertaken to highlight the profile of
unidentified cases in the city of Calcutta on whom medico legal
autopsy was conducted.
2. Material and methods
The present study is a two-year retrospective study that took
place from January 2010 to December 2011 conducted at the
Calcutta Police Morgue attached to the Department of Foren-
sic Medicine, Medical College, Calcutta, India. In the city of
Calcutta, medico legal autopsies are conducted on every case
of unnatural death and all unidentified deceased. All the
unidentified cases that were brought for medico legal autopsy
during the said period were included in the study. Details
regarding the deceased were obtained from the police inquest
reports, autopsy reports and other relevant hospital records.
The data so collected were analyzed, tabulated and presented
in the study.
3. Observations
A total of 2,515 autopsies were conducted during the two-year
period of the study. Nearly one fourth (24.5%, 614) of the
above cases were unidentified at the time of postmortem exam-
ination. Subsequently, 109 (17.8%, n = 614) of the deceased
were identified within one week of autopsy and the remaining
505 (82.2%, n = 614) remained unidentified.
The majority of the subjects (71.3%) were 31–60 years of
age with a peak of 36.6% in the age group of 31–45 years
old (Fig. 1). Nearly 87% of the subjects were males.
All of the 109 cases whose identities were confirmed subse-
quent to autopsy were identified within 7 days of post-mortem
examination. Out of these, a maximum 42 (38.5%) were iden-
tified on the same day after autopsy. A gradual decrease was
noted subsequently on the first (36.6%), second (13.8%) and
third day (3.7%) after autopsy (Fig. 2).
Family members of the deceased confirmed the identity in
83.4% of cases. The male members of the family were the iden-
tifying persons in 71 (65%) cases, out of which the son (23.8%)
of the deceased was the commonest member (Table 1).
Among the unidentified cases, 275 were found either uncon-
scious or dead on the city roads, out of which 152 (24.8%)
were lying on the road and 123 (20.1%) on the adjacent foot-
paths. 198 cases were recovered from the River Ganges or its
eastern bank which forms the western limits of the city (Fig. 3).
Figure 1 Age distribution of the deceased.
113
Figure 2 Time of identification of deceased after autopsy.
Nearly half (48.3%) of the cases were natural deaths due to
some diseases, pathological conditions or old age. Unnatural
deaths accounted for 45.7% of the unidentified bodies (Fig. 4).
Diseases and pathological conditions leading to natural
death were the commonest (48.3%) cause of death followed
by drowning (28.4%). Road traffic accidents were responsible
for deaths in 39 cases (6.4%). Homicidal deaths were found in
36 cases, out of which strangulation was the commonest cause
of death (16 cases) (Table 2).
4. Discussion
The present study revealed that one fourth (614) of all the
autopsies conducted during the two-year period of the study
were unidentified persons. Such a high percentage of unknown
cases was due to the fact that a large number of homeless peo-
ple reside on the streets of the city. Moreover, unidentified
dead bodies are very frequently recovered floating on the River
Ganges that are sent for post-mortem examination to the cen-
ter. In Milan 3.1% of all autopsies were unidentified whereas4
in the USA on an average 413 unidentified persons die each5
year.
In this study 17.8% of the subjects were identified later.
Cattaneo found that 62% of cases reached a positive identity
from a few days to 10 years while in Georgia 94% of the sub-
jects could be identified.6 In Denmark7 and France8 the annual
mean of unidentified bodies was 18 and 22, respectively, while
the rate of identification was 88.7% and 89.8%.
The majority of the subjects (87%) in the present study
were Males, and the peak age was 31–45 years. Individuals
in this age group tend to move out from their homes and often
may go to other cities to earn their livelihood. Many of these
individuals were below the poverty line and were street dwell-
ers, isolated from the society. In Izhevsk, Russia9 13% of all
deaths in men aged 25–54 years were unidentified. In a study
conducted in South Delhi10 on deaths of homeless persons,
87.7% were males and the commonest victims were between
the ages of 31–40 years, while in Istanbul11 95% were males
and most deaths occurred in the age group 41–50 years. In
Toronto12 the mortality rate among home-less women aged
18–44 years was 515 per 100,000 persons per year.
114 S. Chattopadhyay et al.

Table 1 Identification of the deceased.

Deceased identified by Person identifying Cases Percentage (%)
Family members Males Son 26 23.8
Father 18 16.5
Brother 19 17.4
Husband 8 7.3
Females Wife 14 12.9
Mother 2 1.8
Daughter 4 3.7
Relatives 14 12.9
Friends 4 3.7
Total 109 100

Among the unidentified persons, the identity of 109 de-

ceased could be confirmed and 38.5% (n = 109) of them were
identified on the same day after the autopsy. Subsequently, the
rate of identity decreased and none were identified from the
fourth day after the autopsy. As the bodies get older, decom-
position sets in and that hinders the identification process. In
such circumstances, it is difficult for the family members to
confirm the identity simply by viewing the body. Moreover,
the family members make a frantic effort to search for the
missing ones within the few days after they’ve gone missing.
If the effort does not pay off, gradually with time the intensity
of the search also declines. A large number of persons re-
mained unidentified in this study because many were lonely
street dwellers without any family and 32.2% of the bodies
Figure 3 Place of recovery of body. were recovered from the river, which might have come floating
from distant places. As per Izhevsk Family Study,9 out of 4948
deaths of men aged 25–54 years, 777 cases were initially
unidentified, out of which 143 were identified within the two-
year span of the study. In Milan,4 in 62% of the cases, the
identity could be confirmed in a time period ranging from a
few days to 10 years.
It was found that in 83.4% of cases, the family members of
the deceased confirmed their identity, whereas in the rest it was
either their relatives (12.9%) or friends (3.7%). It is quite nat-
ural that the maximum effort for searching comes from the
family members, and hence they were the ones to identify
the deceased. The male members (65%) usually take up such
responsibilities and the female members restrict themselves to
Figure 4 Nature of death. the indoors.

Table 2 Cause of death.

Cause of death Cases Percentage (%)
Diseases 297 48.3
Drowning 174 28.4
Road traffic accidents 39 6.4
Other injuries 31 5
Homicidal injuries Strangulation (16) 36 5.9
Chop (7)
Cut throat (7)
Stab (2)
Physical Assault (2)
Gun Shot (2)
Not known 37 6
Total 614 100
Unidentified bodies in autopsy – A disaster in disguise
Out of the total of unidentified cases, 275 were found on the
city roads or adjacent footpaths. It shows that a good number
of homeless people reside on the streets and are below the pov-
erty line. Kumar10 also reported similar findings from his study
in South Delhi. About 32.2% were recovered from the river or
its banks. Most of these came floating from distant places and
were in a decomposed state. Thirty-eight cases (6.2%) were re-
ported from the hospital emergency where people brought
them in for treatment in an emergency situation and subse-
quently they expired. Altun11 reported that out of the 126 cases
of deaths of homeless persons, 94 were found outdoors.
Natural deaths due to disease or pathological conditions
were the leading causes of death (48.3%). This was mostly seen
among the street dwellers that were of very poor health condi-
tion. Due to lack of food, shelter and proper medical care. they
were the victims of various infections and other diseases lead-
ing to fatality. In South Delhi10, most of the homeless persons
died due to natural causes (61.36%) followed by accidental
deaths (31.70%). In Istanbul, the leading cause was also natu-
ral deaths.
In this study drowning accounted for 28.4% of deaths,
whereas road traffic accidents were responsible in 39 cases
(6.4%). Kumar13 reported that in Delhi among the road traffic
accident victims with head injuries 4.4% of the bodies were un-
claimed. Contrary to all other studies, in Hamburg14 unnatural
deaths due to intoxication were the most common among
homeless persons, while in the USA the leading cause of death
among unidentified descendants was injuries (82.7%). In the
present study 36 cases were homicidal in nature. In all these
cases, the bodies were disposed of to cover up the criminal
acts. Though suicidal deaths could not be confirmed yet, the
possibility of such deaths was very high among those cases
where death was due to drowning, as it is a common manner
of committing suicide.
5. Conclusion
Death under any circumstance is unwanted and painful. The
number of unidentified deaths in the city of Calcutta is quite
alarming. It would not be incorrect to describe it as a ‘‘disaster
in disguise’’. Quite a large number of the deaths were due to a
disease condition and were avoidable. Hence, the results may
not be comparable with those of the developed countries. Sin-
cere efforts from the government are required to provide food
and shelter to its citizens to reduce the burden of such deaths.
Prompt and better identification methods along with co ordi-
nated efforts of the law enforcing agencies would help to estab-
lish the identity of such individuals. It would not only be
important for statistical purposes, but may also provide vital
information related to various criminal acts involving homi-
cidal cases.
Funding
None.
115
Conflict of Interest
None declared.
Ethical Approval
Necessary ethical approval was obtained from the Institute
Ethics Committee.
Acknowledgement
The authors express their sincere thanks to Mr. Vicky for his
technical support and assistance in conducting this study.
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