The Kerala High Court has upheld an order of the Fort Kochi Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) directing a panchayat secretary to get a body that was buried in a stranger’s land exhumed and disposed of, in accordance with the procedure under the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Burial of Unclaimed Corpses and Carcasses) Rules, 1996.
Justice V.G. Arun passed the order while recently disposing of a writ petition by Rajesh, challenging the SDM’s order, and a petition by the owner of the property at Edakkattuvayal seeking implementation of the SDM’s order. The body of an aged woman, who died of cancer, was quickly disposed of by her son Rajesh by burying the corpse in his ancestral property sold to another woman.
On a complaint by the woman, Treesa Joseph, the SDM passed the order directing Rajesh to disinter the body within a week, failing which the secretary of Amballoor panchayat should get the body exhumed and buried in the burial ground of the panchayat in accordance with the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Burial of Unclaimed Corpses and Carcasses) Rules.
In her complaint, the woman contended that no person had the right to bury a body in another person’s property without express consent. The buried body was liable to be removed forthwith.
By refusing to remove the corpse even after it became evident that the body was buried in a stranger’s property, the son of the deceased had virtually abandoned the body of his mother, making it an unclaimed corpse. Therefore, the direction by the SDM to act in accordance with the rules was justified, the court observed.
