An Average of 57 Unidentified Bodies Found Every Month, Proper Identification Remains Elusive

The number of unidentified or unclaimed bodies in the country is increasing at an alarming rate, which is constantly raising concerns among the general public. Government and private statistics say that the number of unidentified bodies recovered has been increasing steadily for the last three to four years.

An average of about 57 unidentified bodies were recovered each month until September this year, which is about 4 percent more than last year.

Recently, the capital has witnessed a multi-fold increase in the level of sensational and brutal crimes. On September 12, a severed head and two hands were recovered from a travel bag in the capital’s Adabor area. Later, the police recovered the rest of the body, wrapped in a bag, from a nearby canal.

On the same day, the unidentified bodies of two people were also recovered from the High Court area.

According to crime experts, no one is truly anonymous. They believe that the lack of capacity and expertise of law enforcement agencies is one of the main reasons behind the increasing number of unidentified bodies.

Crime expert Dr. Touhidul Haque said that the current management in identifying bodies and criminals is not at all adequate. They called for accelerating the investigation process through modern use of technology and strong screening at crime scenes or areas.

On the other hand, the police have stated that if it is not possible to retrieve the identity immediately through biometrics and technology, the normal (manual) method has to be followed, which takes relatively more time.

In the interest of investigation and to prevent criminals from being alerted, all police investigation techniques are not publicly disclosed, said Bangladesh Police spokesperson HM Shahadat Hossain.

Due to the limitations of storing bodies in cold storage for long periods of time and the delays in identification, clues or evidence of many brutal crimes are being destroyed. As a result, many criminals are getting away with it and the families of the victims are being deprived of justice.

To deal with this situation, crime analysts have strongly urged the rapid recovery of bodies, the application of modern technology, rapid identification, and bringing the culprits to justice through a fair and impartial investigation.