Mathane, the beach in Palghar where bodies come to be buried

In 2014 when two decomposed bodies washed up on the beach of Mathane a coastal village around 135 km from Mumbai unsuspecting residents did what was mostly expected of them mdash bury it Today however villagers find themselves in the line of fire for their philanthropy as investigations have suggested that one of these bodies could have been that of missing Dahisar youth Nasim Shaikh 23 whose family is still unsure of his fateThe spot on Palghars Mathane beach where the body said to be that of Nasim Shaikh was buried in 2014 PicsShadab KhanFor the village which has a negligible population of 650 people this news is an unlikely wakeup call to look back at a practice which has possibly left a case hanging in balance for the last three yearsAlso read Kelwa beach burials Cops wont let another corpse turn into a dead endMissing Dahisar youth Nasim Shaikh A home for the deadIn the last five years alone 19 bodies mdash 10 of which were unidentified mdash have made their way on to Mathanes coastline which falls under the jurisdiction of Kelwa police During a visit to the village residents told midday that most bodies flowing along the Arabian Sea get stuck on the rockladen beach stretch during high tide Dead bodies from as far as Gateway of India Gorai and Bhayander creek have also come to our shore Usually the bodies are identified based on their clothes but if they are naked it becomes difficult for us to do anything about it said a villagerAlso read Kelwa beach burials The postmortem that never happenedMost of these bodies are highly decomposed and parts like the scalp hair eyes lips are eaten by marine organisms Often the face is beyond recognition said another villager In such a situation the local police do a spot postmortem after which villagers simply dig a four to fivefeetdeep pit along the beach and bury the body Since 2013 residents have buried nearly 10 bodies Incidentally no records were maintained except for stones being laid over the site where they were buriedIn the case of the body that is suspected to be that of Shaikhs the police had exhumed the body in 2015 and extracted the femur bone However the body could not be identified as the DNA samples collected were considered insufficientAlso read Kelwa Beach Burials Cops find skull fragment autopsy reports questionableThis year Shaikhs family sought the Bombay High Courts intervention to exhume the body But in September when the spot was dug no human remains were found According to a senior forensic surgeon when bodies are buried in loose soil especially closer to the sea its highly possible that theyd never stay in the same spot They probably return to the sea during high tide the forensics expert said The need of the hour he said is to have a designated burial ground for these bodies at the villageFrom right Rajendra Patil 41 deputy sarpanch of the village with Shaikhs sister Anusuya Gaud and father Rafiq ShaikhTime for change With no streetlights zero mobile connectivity and only tar roads connecting Mathane the village is among the least accessible in the Palghar district Designated as a tribal area most of the villagers practice farming After 6 pm residents seldom venture out fearing attacks by wild dogs Even the local police on night duty prefer to stay at the police station which is over 10 km from Mathane villageSpeaking to midday Rajendra Patil 41 deputy sarpanch of the village said The beach is mostly deserted and villagers seldom visit it unless they want to walk down to a neighbouring village which is easily accessible from the shoreAlso read Kelwa beach burials Cops unable to find buried remainsThe only time crowds gather at the beach is when a body gets washed ashore Arvind Patil 71 former village sarpanch said When I was sarpanch for 15 years villagers would often inform me about unidentified bodies washing ashore I would visit the spot and inspect the body first and only then call the police as villagers are wary of them According to Arvind in the last decade or so there have been reports of at least one or two bodies being spotted at the beach annuallyEarlier wed simply bury the bodies at the beach However its only in the last three or four years that the police have begun insisting on a spot postmortem said Arvind Since none of the villagers were willing to give their land to bury the bodies they decided to lay them to rest along the beach However we will now try and look for another alternative to bury the bodies added Arvind Meanwhile the police who are facing flak for botchingup Shaikhs investigation maintain that they are helplessAlso read Is man buried in a hurry at Kelwa beach missing Dahisar youthWith none of the primary healthcare centres in and around Mathane village having a mortuary or a postmortem centre a thorough examination of the body is impossible said a police officer from Kelwa Sagari police Moreover transporting a highlydecomposed body from the beach to the bigger centre with a postmortem facility is also difficult due to unavailability of cutters or helpers the official addedAssistant Police Inspector Siddhawa Jaybhaye who is also head of Kelwa Sagari police station said We need a mortuary where unclaimed bodies can be kept till they have been identified Jaybhaye who took charge of Kelwa Sagari three months ago now hopes to streamline the process so that families like Shaikhs get the closure they most deserve10 No of bodies that are yet to be identifiedAlso view Pallavi Purkayastha murder All you need to know about the gruesome crime