Mortality among homeless and unclaimed bodies in Mangalore city – An insight

• Published in: Journal of forensic and legal medicine Vol. 19; no. 6; pp. 321 - 323
• Main Authors: Raghavendra Babu, Y.P., MD, Joseph, Nitin, MD, Kadur, Kishan, MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2012; Churchill Livingstone Inc., Medical Publishers
• Subjects: Accidents, Traffic - mortality; Adolescent; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Autopsies; Autopsy; Cause of Death; Child; Child, Preschool; Cities; Drowning - mortality; Fatalities; Female; Forensic Pathology; Forensic sciences; Homeless people; Homeless Persons - statistics & numerical data; Homelessness; Homicide - statistics & numerical data; Humans; India - epidemiology; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Law enforcement; Male; Middle Aged; Mortality; Noncitizens; Pathology; Retrospective Studies; Sex Distribution; South India; Suicide - statistics & numerical data; Unclaimed body; Young Adult; India; Mangalore India; Homelessness; South India; Autopsy; Unclaimed body
• ISSN: 1752-928X; 1878-7487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2012.02.007

Abstract Homelessness is a social as well as legal stigma on a Country’s development index. In addition homeless people are exposed to increased incidence of diseases and accidents. Mangalore city, a bustling city located in Southern costal region of India, has seen tremendous growth in the past few years; with this the problem of migrants and homeless has also increased. This has invited a spectrum of problems relating to law and order including frequent incidences of unclaimed dead bodies, both due to natural and unnatural causes. This autopsy based study tries to highlight the situation of picture of homeless deaths in Mangalore and the problems faced by the Law enforcing authorities.