Strange Skull problem at CMCH ..
The Forensic Medicine Department of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) is now facing a strange problem of keeping the skulls that are piling up, all because of inadequate storage facility.Presently about 40 skulls, accumulated over the last three years, are lying in the hospital.As per the procedure, after the chemical cleaning of the skulls, the department packs them and hands over to the police for safe storage."The department has no storage facility and we are unable to maintain these skulls with the available staff," laments Professor of the Department Edwin Joe.Police sources say that they have no written norms making it mandatory for them to receive the skulls. Though they were doing it in the past, lack of storage space made it impossible for them to do it now.As soon as an unidentified body is brought to the mortuary, the police take photographs and make efforts to establish the identity. If their attempts fail even after 10 days, an autopsy is conducted and the body is then cremated.
The skull is cleaned and handed over to the police for further identification.In case of a claim, the skull will be sent to the forensic lab in Chennai for video superimposition. Edwin Joe says that the police cannot shun their responsibility of safe custody of these skulls as they are vital for forensic studies.
