GFSU to soon venture into humanitarian forensics

The Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU) is hoping to add a humanitarian dimension to forensics in the country to help disaster-hit people by launching a dedicated course on Humanitarian Forensics. The discipline involves taking blood samples of survivors of a calamity, matching it with the body so it can be handed over to the kin for last rites, the institute said.

Talking in detail about the course, to be launched in association with the International Committee for Red Cross, CD Jadeja, Registrar at GFSU, said, "In any event that involves mass casualties, kin of victims often live with trauma all life, mostly because they are not able to see the body of their family members, when ideally they should have a say in the disposition of their remains. Humanitarian forensics deals in this area."

Other than mass post-mortems, humanitarian forensics also involves counselling of distressed patients who find it difficult to overcome bereavement. "We will also be roping in counsellors and psychologists to help us strengthen this course and make our students understand how to deal with such situations."

The course will chiefly include designing sensitisation programmes, how best to locate, recover and preserve bodies in a certain condition, designing special vehicle models for their transportation and portable mortuaries.