Under a CPLC project, bodies are identified through biometric scan technology that utilises NADRA’s database
KARACHI: Identification of unknown dead bodies always poses a challenge to law-enforcement agencies. The usual reasons of non-identification of dead bodies are the non-availability of a proper history of the deceased and decomposition. Another important reason for non-identification of dead bodies is the lack of interest by the police to properly investigate such cases. Such dead bodies are kept in mortuaries for some time in the hopes that the next-of-kin may come looking for their loved ones and claim the bodies for burial after appropriate identification. The results in this regard are not encouraging, probably because of the lack of knowledge about the whereabouts of such morgues. What is needed is the adoption of methods and scientific techniques to identify nameless bodies.
Thanks to the efforts of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), an initiative has been taken to address this problem in collaboration with the Edhi Trust through a project called Shanakht, for the identification of such bodies. Under this project, unidentified bodies are identified through the biometric scan technology that utilises NADRA’s database. A special desk has been established by the CPLC at the Edhi morgue for carrying out the aforesaid task. The cooperation being extended by NADRA in this regard is exemplary.
This problem has been so acute that even the Supreme Court observed last February that “there should be an effective mechanism so that whenever a dead body is found, relatives of the missing persons should be contacted to identify it”. The project was launched on December 1, 2015 and in such a short time span, 120 dead bodies were handled, out of which 65 were identified with the help of NADRA and 56 were handed over to the relatives of the deceased. The claimants of the bodies belonged to different parts of the country. As per a newspaper report, the CPLC is planning to extend the project in collaboration with Chippa, while a similar desk is to be established at the Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre. It takes determination to organise and effectively run such ventures in a heavily populated city. Those involved in this project deserve solid commendation. It is essential to convey to the CPLC volunteers, Edhi and Chippa, that Karachiites are grateful for their commitment to such a noble cause.
Khawaja Amer
Published in The Express Tribune, January 11th, 2016.
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