He has taken care of nearly 50,000 dead, unclaimed bodies when no one else would. Now it's too much to handle. Brut joined Mumbai Constable Dnyandeo Ware on hearse duty to see firsthand what this risky job entails.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00In the last 20 years, I have taken more than Rs 50,000 in bribes.
00:18My police vehicle, the horse-van, has lost 5 of the government's assistants.
00:34Madam, no one is willing to do this work.
00:37Because more than half die after doing this work.
00:48It's been two and a half hours since I took the horse out.
00:51I can smell the water on my body.
00:54This is a very tough job.
00:57I can't tell you how difficult it is.
00:59It's not an easy job.
01:19Today, there are 7 Buddhists, 3 Muslims and 4 Hindus.
01:23How can I do this work?
01:25It's not fair.
01:27I will go to Jai Jai in 15-20 minutes.
01:32I will call you when I get there.
01:37I am on high duty.
01:40That's it.
01:43The Mumbai Police Department logs nearly 100 unclaimed bodies every month.
01:49These are people who have died and no one has come to pick up their bodies.
01:53In such cases, Head Constable Nyande Vare steps up to perform last rites and give the abandoned dignity in death.
02:01I spent two days in the field with Vare to see what exactly happens to Mumbai's forgotten souls.
02:08Vare is one of the only officers assigned to this duty.
02:12He does have one government-appointed assistant.
02:15But he often has to seek unofficial help from daily wage workers.
02:19He is the government's assistant.
02:21He is always drunk.
02:23He can't pick up the body.
02:25So I took two assistants from outside.
02:27I met two such assistants today.
02:29They were sitting in the car.
02:31They were sitting on the footpath.
02:34They asked me if I could pick up the body.
02:38I said yes.
02:40They asked me if I was scared.
02:42I said no.
02:44I paid them both.
02:46Now I am going to pick them up.
02:55In one day, I pick up at least five to six bodies.
03:00Two years.
03:03In religion, if you are a Muslim, you are a Muslim.
03:06If you are a Hindu, you are a Hindu.
03:08In all religions, you are a Hindu.
03:17Our first stop was JJ Hospital Mortuary to pick up the bodies for the day.
03:22Authorities give families a 15-day grace period to retrieve their loved ones
03:27before turning it over to Vare for disposal.
03:30There are a lot of bodies in my hand.
03:32If the body changes,
03:34if I have a token in my hand,
03:36if there is an injury,
03:38I have to remove the token from my hand.
03:40I have to check everything.
03:42There are about 30-40 bodies in my hand.
03:4441, right?
03:4641?
03:47Yes.
03:48There is a token in my hand.
03:52There is a token in my hand.
03:54The body comes out.
03:57That's it.
03:59Give me the body.
04:14I remember, in 2001,
04:16I took the body to Bhaikala Police Station.
04:18The body was lying on the road.
04:20The body was lying on the road.
04:22We took the body to the hospital.
04:24They told us not to touch the body.
04:26They told us not to touch the body.
04:28Where do we get the body?
04:51When I was starving,
04:53I used to sleep in my father's dream, and now I sleep in my father's dream.
04:56This has been going on for a month now.
04:58Then one day I sat down on the road and said,
05:00wait, I'll come back.
05:02Now that my posting is done, I won't leave. I'll stay here.
05:06It shouldn't be a mix.
05:07A Hindu shouldn't go to a Muslim, and a Muslim shouldn't go to a Hindu.
05:10But that's different.
05:11Look, the ones on the roof are Hindus,
05:13and the ones in the box are Muslims.
05:15They're kept separately.
05:23Ware knew which bodies were Hindu and which were Muslim
05:26because it's written on the death certificate.
05:28To identify a person's faith, the doctor looks at their name
05:31as well as physical indicators,
05:33such as tattoos or whether they're circumcised.
05:44Bara Kabaristan is the only place in all of Mumbai
05:47that accepts Muslim unclaimed bodies.
05:49Ware brings a few bodies here to be buried nearly every day.
06:20Our religious process is the same.
06:22We bury the bodies the same way.
06:26We offer prayers, we keep the shoulders in the funeral pyre.
06:4120 years ago, the Mumbai police had several hearse vans patrolling the city.
06:45Now, Ware is one of three,
06:48and the load is too much to handle.
06:50His shifts often stretch for more than 10 to 12 hours.
07:19It's been two and a half hours since we took him out of the AC.
07:22His body has started to smell like water.
07:24It's been a long time since he's smelled like water.
07:27He can't even stand straight.
07:35Ware is in charge of logistics,
07:37but he's always had help with moving the bodies.
07:39Unfortunately, that is dangerous work.
07:42According to Ware, several government and private employees
07:46who worked under him died either from infections they got from handling the bodies
07:50or from excessive drinking due to pressures from the job.
08:17Ever since he came in the car,
08:19he's been working without drinking.
08:21People do all this after drinking.
08:29In the beginning, he was scared.
08:31When he was 15 or 20 days old, that's when he was scared.
08:34But after that, slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly,
08:36he's no longer scared.
08:37He doesn't have any tension.
08:38He just needs to be cleaned.
08:40He'll be clean, there'll be no tension.
08:46I'm happy to be doing this.
08:48If my parents didn't die,
08:50someone else would have done this for them.
08:57I was young then.
09:02I don't do it for money.
09:04I do it because I feel peaceful.
09:17He is the one person who is doing all the work.
09:20A very good, excellent job.
09:23In COVID, he got a transfer to the police station.
09:27But somebody should come and join him.
09:29I'll do the work for you.
09:31You go to the police station, you have been transferred.
09:34But nobody's coming.
09:36So he said, OK, nobody's coming, I'll do the work.
09:46Varey took care of six bodies that day
09:48and didn't reach home until after midnight.
09:51He's only six years from retirement.
09:53But without the additional staff support he's asked for,
09:57it's unclear if he'll be able to hold on for that long.
10:00He comes home in the afternoon, but he doesn't let us sleep.
10:03When he comes home, he'll be fresh,
10:06he'll have a good time,
10:08but he doesn't let us sleep.
10:10He doesn't let us sleep.
10:12When he comes home, he'll be fresh,
10:14he'll have a good time,
10:16but he doesn't let us sleep.
10:25At that time, we were very scared.
10:28We didn't know what would happen to us
10:31if something bad happened to him.
10:34I've told him many times not to come.
10:37I've told him many times not to come.
10:39It's not easy to get a job.
10:43You have to work hard.
10:45You have to know the job well.
10:47You have to know the job well.
10:49You have to know the job well.