The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : It's agonising wait for kin of accident victims

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 28, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

It's agonising wait for kin of accident victims

By K. Manikandan

CHENNAI, NOV. 27. Every day there is somebody dying on the city's roads. But sometimes, more than the trauma of the accident, it is the aftermath that the victims's kin have trouble dealing with. Often, it is an agonising wait for relatives to know whether their loved ones are alive or dead and in getting the bodies after post-mortem.

Consider this. On May 22, a 50-year-old woman was returning home to Purasawakkam a few days ahead of her daughter's wedding. She was in a car with some relatives when an oncoming milk van hit the centre median, jumped off the road and rammed into the car. The accident took place near Meenambakkam. The woman died, while two other occupants of the car escaped with injuries.

On hearing the news, her relatives came to the police station. They were told that the body was kept in the Chromepet Government Hospital after post-mortem.

When they went to the hospital, they were clueless about what they had to do. They had to shuttle between the hospital and the police station. Even several hours after the accident, the relatives were not sure where the victim's body was. By the time the body was handed over to the relatives, several hours had passed.

This is not an isolated incident. There have been several instances where relatives have had to struggle to find out whether their loved ones are dead or alive. What causes greater trauma to the relatives of accident victims is the long delayat police stations and mortuaries to receive the bodies.

Cumbersome process

Activists lament that government agencies have little has to mitigate the sufferings of relatives of accident victims. The procedures for getting victims' bodies are so cumbersome that people who do not know the rules are exploited by unscrupulous elements.

Members of the Accident Victims Association said that apart from the procedural delays, `ambulance chasers' often exploit innocent people.

Under the existing procedures the police have to record statements from at least five persons other than family members of the deceased. These neutral persons, called as `panchayatdars', must have been present at the scene of crime. A statement from these panchayatdars is essential as it is part of the inquest — investigation at the accident spot.

Further, relatives are not able to take custody of the victim's body quickly after the post-mortem. At times, hospital authorities insist on being shown a copy of the first information report (FIR) from the police before handing over the body.

The entire process, starting from lodging a complaint, completion of inquest and producing an FIR copy, takes several hours. And if the accident takes place on a Sunday or a government holiday, it is even worse, for either the inspector may not be on duty or the doctor conducting the post-mortem might be away.

Police officers said that they have to record statements from five neutral persons and conduct detailed investigations at the scene of accident before taking the body for post-mortem, in the event of a fatality. Although residents and passers-by contribute a great deal in helping accident victims, they hesitate to give their statements to the police as eyewitnesses.

Document preparation

The officers however add that the department was striving hard to change the general perception that recording statements would result in harassment to the witnesses. They said it takes a lot of time to prepare the documents as they have to write down the case history with all the relevant details.

Pointing out to the level of computerisation in the Police department, activists wonder why the law enforcers cannot employ technology to lessen the ordeal of taxpayers.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu