The bodies of eight victims killed in anti-discrimination student protests remain in the morgue of Dhaka Medical College’s (DMCH) Forensic Medicine Department. Despite over a month and a half having passed since their deaths, the identities of these victims have yet to be confirmed.

According to the Forensic Medicine Department, nine bodies were in the morgue as of Tuesday (September 3). One of the bodies was identified that day by relatives who recognized the face, a ring, and a watch. The identified body was that of Md. Tareq (18), the son of Md. Riaz Tareq was from Khodejabad village, Charfesson Thana, Bhola. His father collected the body from the DMCH forensic morgue at around 1 pm.

Relatives said Tareq participated in the protests in Jatrabari on August 5. His last conversation with his family took place at around 12:30 pm.

Tareq’s cousin, Tania Akter, told Bonik Barta, “Tareq worked at a tailor’s shop in the Jatrabari area. He had been actively involved in the protests even before August 5. After that afternoon, we lost all contact with him. After searching everywhere for so long, we thought we should check the morgue.”

Sources at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) revealed that there are two morgues—one in the emergency department of the hospital and the other in the Forensic Medicine Department of the college. If someone injured in an accident or a clash dies after being brought to the hospital, the body is kept in the emergency department’s morgue. Even if there’s suspicion about the cause of death, the body is registered in this morgue and later sent to the Forensic Medicine Department for an autopsy. However, if a person dies under unusual circumstances or their death is declared at another hospital, the body is directly sent to the college’s forensic morgue without any registration in the hospital’s records.

An analysis of the autopsy reports of the eight bodies currently in the forensic morgue revealed that one is of a woman. She was left in front of Dhaka Medical College on August 14 by unidentified individuals. The remaining seven bodies are of men. Two of these bodies were recovered from inside Jatrabari Thana on August 7 and initially taken to Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital before being sent to the DMCH morgue. Their ages range from 30 to 34.

Another burned body, approximately 35 years old, was brought to Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital on August 7 and later sent to the DMCH morgue for autopsy. On the same day, Kamrul Islam brought an injured man from Gulistan to DMCH. The man, who was wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, was believed to have died from a fall from a height. His age is estimated to be 25 years. While the name ‘Enamul’ was mentioned, no further details about his identity have been found.

Ramu Chandra Das, a morgue assistant at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, told Bonik Barta, “The police will decide what to do with these bodies. They will remain here for as long as the police want or may be handed over to Anjuman Mufidul Islam as unclaimed. That decision also rests with the police.”