Retrospective Study of Unidentified or Unclaimed bodies Brought for Autopsies at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Practically Identification is the process of determining a person's uniqueness. in all autopsy centres throughout India, post-mortem  examination of unidentified or unclaimed deceased remains a constant concern. There might be many causes for this. Although forensic  specialists play a significant part in this identification procedure, investigating agencies are largely responsible for this. This is  accomplished by working together using traditional and scientific methodologies. The aim was to study the profile of  unidentified/unclaimed bodies in terms of age, sex, cause of death, seasonal variation, etc. The information was gathered from all  unidentified/unclaimed deceased corpses submitted to the morgue for postmortem investigation at Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical  Institution & Research Centre, a private medical college in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, between January 1st, 2018, and December 31st,  2022. From April 2020 to December 2021 autopsy was stopped at this institute because of covid pandemic. 125 corpses in all were taken to  the department's morgue for postmortem assessment over the time frame of the research. Males were more in number as compared to  females; males – 111 cases and females - 13 cases. The age range of 41–50 years had the highest proportion of cases, followed by that of  31–40 years. Most of the deceased belonged to the Hindu religion. Most of the cases occurred between the January to March period. Most  of the cases died because of natural death. In natural deaths, the most common system involved was the lung followed by the heart.