Mangaluru: The Centre for Ethics, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, jointly with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Regional Delegation for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives conducted a national-level workshop to explore ethical questions about the dignified treatment of the dead and practical solutions to contemporary problems. The workshop “Respect for the human dignity of the unidentified dead from mass disasters and other violence: Strategies for the ethical management of biological samples and personal data ” was held on October 6, 2022. Delegates from various states of India participated in this workshop. Dr Luciana Caenazzo, a Forensic Geneticist at the University of Padua, Italy, was the Chief Resource Person. Dr Derek Congram, Forensic Specialist heading Regional Delegation for India, Nepal, Bhutan & Maldives was the resource person from ICRC and Dr Vina Vaswani, Director, of the Centre for Ethics from Yenepoya (deemed to be University)
Dr M Vijayakumar, Vice Chancellor, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University) inaugurated the event. He recommended that the workshop should also help define processes and suggest policies on research on cadavers as there existed a lacuna in that area. Dr Gangadhara Somayaji, Registrar was the guest for the inaugural. The program got off to an auspicious start with Dr Vina Vaswani reciting a poem ‘Freedom’ from Gitanjali penned by the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
In the morning session, Dr Luciana Caenazzo delivered her lecture on the core topic in four parts, addressing different questions related to the ethical management of the dead. Dr Yogender Singh Bansal, Dr Jagminder Sehrawat and Dr Swapnil Agarwal presented their experiences from the work involving unidentified bodies. Dr Bansal spoke on the current practices in the disposal of unclaimed bodies; Dr Agrawal presented his experience in the handling of mass disasters. Dr Sehrawat discussed a case study. It was a hybrid session and there was good interaction by way of questions and comments from both online and offline participants. Dr Kishor Kummar, Professor and Head, Forensic Medicine and toxicology was present on the dais. Dr Congram and Dr Vaswani concluded the morning session. Dr Nasir Ahmed proposed the vote of thanks.
The afternoon session of the workshop was aimed to create publishable recommendations via small discussions, on the respectful management of unidentified bodies. The delegates were divided into three groups. The three groups worked in the relaxing environs of “Yenviron”, the Artistic spot of Yenepoya University, surrounded by the creative paintings of Dr Akhter Hussain, Dean, Yenepoya Dental College, on the theme of Life-Cycle. The open-air creative seating arrangements, amidst the chirping of birds and surrounded by paintings formed the scenic backdrop for the discussion. Each group was given a different topic to discuss and come up with some solutions. Rapporteurs were assigned to each group to assist in note-taking. The groups presented their recommendations after a two and half hour’s discussion. The workshop ended at 5:15 p.m.
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