A view of the mutilated and rotting bodies lying in the Osmania General Hospital mortuary. They pose a serious health hazard not only to handlers working in the mortuary, but also to the PG hostel located nearby. The bodies brought into the mortuary are kept waiting for nearly 25 days after autopsy for disposal. (Photo: DC)

Hyderabad: In a shocking apathy, the Osmania General Hospital has carelessly dumped the bodies of dozens of unidentified persons to rot in its morgue.

The bodies, decomposing in the summer heat, are heaped inhumanly in a corner of the morgue after the post-mortem examination.

The bodies are unclothed at the time of the post-mortem. Many of them do not even get the dignity of being clothed before they were thrown along the corner of the morgue, along with some construction debris, as pictures provided by a whistleblower show.

Sometimes the bodies lie in that pathetic condition for 25 days before they are given a funeral.

The rule says the bodies have to be disposed of within 72 hours after post-mortem. The pictures of the bodies showed this was not done.

After 72 hours of mandatory wait for claimants following autopsy, the body becomes the property of the state and it should no longer be held with anyone. It should be disposed of after that period, according to the Anatomy Act.

The cold storage in the mortuary has eight freezers, each of which can accommodate four bodies. Two of these are not working. The hospital has not got them fixed.

Doctors, students and staff are forced to work in the stench of the rotting bodies. Those waiting to collect the bodies of their loved ones are nauseated but have no choice but to bear it.

Asked about the horrific conditions, hospital officials trotted out a variety of responses. It was not “today” picture, they said. The fact is that the bodies were dumped with crass lack of respect, this week or last week.

Another excuse was that there were more deaths in the summer, and this was a “temporary” occurrence.

The hospital gets about 6,000 bodies every year. One-fifth are of unidentified persons. The hospital knows that it can expect 1,200 such bodies annually. It knows most of these cases are reported from April to June since homeless persons succumbing to the heat is said to be common. The hospital did not make any attempt to preserve the bodies of the dead with dignity.

Finally, finger-pointing. “About 200 to 300 bodies come to the mortuary during summer. Out of these 50 to 70 are unidentified. Because the GHMC does not dispose them of, they rot in the mortuary,” a hospital official said.

What the hospital did to get the bodies cleared is not known. Efforts to question GHMC officials proved futile. Additional commissioner, health, Ravi Kiran did not respond to several calls.