Amid rising AES deaths in Bihar, human skeletons found near Muzaffarpur's SKMCH hospital

In a shocking development, hundreds of skeletal remains have been discovered lying in open, in a forest near the government-run Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Bihar's Muzaffarpur. An investigation team of the SKMCH hospital accompanied by policemen visited the spot on Saturday. Dr Vipin Kumar from the hospital said, "Skeletal remains have been found here. Detailed information will be provided by the Principal."

One or two of the dead bodies were found charred and hundreds of skeletons were found strewn on the ground or stuffed into sacks in the forest area. "After postmortem, all the bodies are dumped in the forest behind the hospital. I never tried to ask the authorities about these skeletons," caretaker of SKMCH, Janak Paswan told ANI.

The abandoned skeletons have neither been burned nor buried. "The postmortem department takes care of the dead bodies. This is really inhuman if they have dumped the bodies in open. We will ask their department head to call an inquiry regarding the matter," Superintendent SK Shahi told ANI.

When a hospital receives any dead body, it has to immediately contact the nearest police station and file a report in this connection. The corpse has to be kept in the postmortem room for 72 hours after the report has been filed. If no family member arrives for identification of the body within 72 hours, it is the duty of the postmortem department to bury or burn the body following the stipulated procedure, Shahi said.

SKMCH is currently battling with an influx of cases of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) with the death toll due to the vector-borne disease crossing 100 on Saturday.