Forensic expert demonstrates technique to preserve bodies for prolonged periods

A city-based forensic expert has claimed to have developed a unique technique called ‘Mumbalming’ for preservation of bodies. 

Dinesh Rao, who heads the Department of Forensic Medicine at Oxford Medical College and Research Institute in the city, has claimed that this technique will help preserve the dead for several years in normal temperature and surroundings. The experimental technique used on four bodies so far (from March 2018) was presented before medical students and doctors at the college on Friday. 

“The method is unique in terms of the types of chemicals and its mixture and method of application. The first application of the technique was done in March 2018 followed by a second one on a day-old baby in August 2019. The third application of the technique  was done on a 50-year-old male in April 2021 and the fourth on a 48-year-old male (whose body was partially decomposed) in August 2021,” Dr. Rao told The Hindu.

“The experimental technique gave satisfying results and the same were presented on Friday in front of medical students and doctors,” he said. 

The technique was started in 2003 and applied on animals. “With continuous monitoring and usage of different chemicals and methods, the final standard method was derived and the same was first applied in 2018,” he said. “After application of the technique, the body can be kept in normal surroundings. The body is rendered non-infective or toxic to the surroundings,” he claimed.