{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,18]],"date-time":"2026-06-18T09:20:34Z","timestamp":1781774434170,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,17]],"date-time":"2014-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1392595200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Med Sci Law"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Homeless and unclaimed dead bodies are a social as well as legal stigma on a country's development index. In addition, homeless people are exposed to increased incidence of diseases, accidents and mortality. Lucknow city, a city situated in the heart of the great Gangetic plain in the northern region of India, is surrounded by rural towns and villages and has seen tremendous growth in the past few years; with this the problem of migrants and homelessness has also increased. This has resulted in a spectrum of problems relating to law and order, including frequent incidences of unclaimed dead bodies, both due to natural and unnatural causes. Few studies on this subject have been published in India.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Study design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Observational retrospective study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Data was collected from the files of the Department of Forensic Medicine &amp; Toxicology between 2008 and 2012.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 20877 autopsy cases were registered, out of which 3169 (15.17%) were unclaimed bodies. The majority of cases belonged to males (2218, 69.99%) as compared to females (951, 30.01%). Most unclaimed bodies were in the age group of 41\u201360 years (47.24%) and the least affected age group was 1\u201320 years (265, 8.36%). The most common manner of death was accident (1098, 34.64%), followed by suicide (1062, 33.51%), natural (927, 29.25%) and homicides (82, 2.59%). The most common cause of natural death in both males and females was chronic lung disease. Railway and road traffic accidents accounted for 516 (68.25%) accidental deaths in males, whereas in females they accounted for 301(88.01%). The most common mode of suicide among males was by poisoning (391, 48.81%), while poisoning (149, 57.08), hanging (78, 29.88%) and drowning (23, 8.81%) were the main modes of suicide in females reported in our study. Majority of the cases of deaths were reported during rainy season (2209, 69.70%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This autopsy-based study tries to highlight the picture of homeless deaths in Lucknow and the problems faced by the law enforcing authorities. More research is needed to identify the health-related problems of such people and possible contributory factors to mortality.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/0025802414523585","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,17]],"date-time":"2014-02-17T21:58:12Z","timestamp":1392674292000},"page":"11-15","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Homeless and unclaimed persons' deaths in north India (Jan 2008\u2013Nov 2012): A retrospective study"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"55","author":[{"given":"Sachil","family":"Kumar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, K.G. Medical University UP, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anoop K","family":"Verma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, K.G. Medical University UP, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wahid","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, K.G. Medical University UP, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Uma Shankar","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, K.G. Medical University UP, India"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-0025802414523585","unstructured":"Examples: New York Social Service Law Section 141; California Health and Safety Code Section 7104; Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 451.400; DC Code Title 5, Chapter 14, Part 11 (5-14-11); Official Code of Georgia Title 31 Chapter 21."},{"key":"bibr2-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kumar S, Verma AK, Bhattacharya S, Rathore S. Trends in rates and methods of suicide in India.\n                      Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences\n                      2013; 3: 75\u201380.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejfs.2013.04.003"},{"key":"bibr3-0025802414523585","unstructured":"Lucknow City Profile, www.uhi-india.org (accessed February 2010)."},{"key":"bibr4-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1258\/rsmmsl.49.1.46"},{"key":"bibr5-0025802414523585","unstructured":"Millo T, Agnihotri A, Gupta S, Dogra, TD. Procedure for preservation and disposal of dead bodies in hospital.\n                      Journal of the Academy of Hospital Administration\n                      2007; 13(2)."},{"key":"bibr6-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyp160"},{"key":"bibr7-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1503\/cmaj.1031167"},{"key":"bibr8-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.327.7406.81"},{"key":"bibr9-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.292.5.569"},{"key":"bibr10-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(05)79510-6"},{"key":"bibr11-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0379-0738(98)00178-9"},{"key":"bibr12-0025802414523585","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jflm.2007.12.004"},{"key":"bibr13-0025802414523585","first-page":"686","volume":"50","author":"Ohsaka T","year":"2003","journal-title":"Nippon Koshu Eisei Zaasshi"}],"container-title":["Medicine, Science and the Law"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/0025802414523585","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1177\/0025802414523585","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1177\/0025802414523585","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T08:29:20Z","timestamp":1777624160000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/10.1177\/0025802414523585"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,17]]},"references-count":13,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2015,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1177\/0025802414523585"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0025802414523585","relation":{},"ISSN":["0025-8024","2042-1818"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0025-8024","type":"print"},{"value":"2042-1818","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2014,2,17]]}}}