Twenty-two hearse van assistants neither given safety gear nor health cover.
Five years ago, during the 26/11 terror attacks, Naresh Shankar Ghatar was assigned the duty of transporting the bullet-riddled body of Abu Ismail, the slain partner of terrorist Ajmal Kasab, from one hospital to another. However, it was no big deal for Ghatar, who has been handling the bodies of the dead for 28 years now.
I didn’t realise I was carrying the body of one of the terrorists. To me, it was just another body,” said Ghatar casually.
Ghatar (48) is a hearse van assistant attached with the Mumbai police. Whether it is a body which has been chopped into pieces in a railway accident or a suicide, these hearse van assistants are the ones who assemble the body and carry it to the hospital for autopsies, and from there to crematoriums and burial grounds for last rites.
In the state, the hearse van system exists only with Mumbai police. At present, there are seven hearse vans and 22 hearse van assistants.
Department officials, however, say the job is not for the weak-hearted, adding that most hearsemen quit soon as they cannot stomach the gore. What’s saddening is that of those who stay on end up falling prey to a plethora of illnesses, most being deadly infections. This, the hearse van assistants say, is because the authorities haven’t provided them with safety gear — gloves, masks, gum boots and disinfectants.
“We are left at the mercy of the hospital authorities. If they have spare masks or gloves, they give them to us, or else we go about the job without any protection,” said a hearse van assistant.
They claim that in certain mortuaries, they have to walk in ankle-deep blood.
Arvind Saudai, 39, who has been in the profession for 15 years, recently developed a skin infection on his legs. “Doctors say the infection was caused due to inadequate protection. The medicines are expensive and it is difficult to pay for them,” says Saudai, who struggles to make ends meet.
These workers are not entitled to Kutumb Arogya cards, which allow employees of the state police to seek free treatment for 24 major diseases.
NG Pathan, PI of the motor transport department, said “They are provided with free treatment at the police hospitals. However, with regard to the safety gear, I will arrange for it as soon as possible,” he said.
Exposed to diseases
The hearse van assistants end up falling prey to a plethora of illnesses, most being deadly infections. This, they say, is because the authorities haven’t provided them with safety gear — gloves, masks, gum boots and disinfectants. They claim that in certain mortuaries, they have to walk in ankle-deep blood
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