KARACHI, Oct 15: Edhi Foundation has buried more than 200,000 unclaimed bodies since 1956. The task was undertaken in view of government institutions’ apathy.

No other NGO has so far come forward to accomplish the task on such a big scale in five decades, while the government’s indifference remains as stark as ever.

The foundation acquired its first graveyard in Mawashah which is now full to capacity; more than 150,000 bodies have been buried there. The graveyard has been closed and only bodies of minors are laid to rest occasionally, says an official of the foundation. Currently the Mochko graveyard is being utilised where over 58,000 unclaimed bodies have been buried.

Both the graveyards were provided by the defunct KMC on the request put forward by Maulana Abdus Sattar Edhi.

From January to Sept 30 this year, 977 unidentified bodies have been laid to rest. In the year 2002, 1386, and in 2001, 1325 bodies were buried in the Mochko graveyard.

During the mid 1990’s, when the city was facing the worst law and order situation, the foundation buried 1685 unclaimed bodies in 1995 and 1455 corpses in 1996.

The foundation receives an average of four to six unidentified bodies daily, while 20 to 22 bodies are brought to Edhi’s cold storage for safekeeping by families due to delay in burial.

A senior official of the foundation, Rizwan Edhi, told Dawn that the majority of unknown bodies belonged to drug addicts, and in most cases no family members turned up to claim the body. “Such bodies are buried after being kept for three days at the morgue.” He said the foundation had developed a photo- data bank of unknown bodies which it disposed.

Bodies are prepared; given final bath and wrapped in the coffin. Last recites are offered by a Maulana who is the employee of the foundation. He gets paid for each body.

Every unidentified body is snapped with a serial number issued for it. The photograph is put in the photo album with a visible serial number. Instead of a tombstone, a tin sheet bearing the victim’s serial number is put in place at the grave.

According to the foundation, Rs2000 to 2200 are spent on every body, the cost is met by a special fund allocated for unclaimed bodies.

As the graves are not made of cement- but earth, they start to decay and become exposed, a visit to the Mochko graveyard showed.

Citing a problem often encountered, officials of the foundation said decomposed bodies could not be kept at the morgue and they had to be buried without any waste of time.

Keeping them even for a little while at the cold storage might cause infection to other corpses, an official of the morgue said. Some unclaimed bodies are given to medical colleges.

Recently, a decomposed body was found in Nazimabad and buried at the Mochko graveyard. Later, the victim was revealed to be a former bank official who was kidnapped and killed. The body was exhumed and handed over to the victim’s relative who buried the body in another graveyard.

Referring to the problem of identification of unknown bodies, officials of the foundation said private television channels could do some good to families of victims in that regard.