Mumbai police investigate family’s four-year preservation of dead man’s body

Police in Mumbai are investigating the discovery of an 80-year-old man’s body, which his family reportedly kept preserved in a clinic freezer for four years after his death. According to police, the man died in 2022 and his family instructed a clinic in Malad to preserve the body. The family allegedly told investigators that they were distressed by his death and hoped to transfer the remains to a cryonics centre in the United States offering long-term preservation.

The family did not inform police while the body remained at the facility, according to the report. Police learned of the arrangement through an informant and are now seeking legal advice about how the remains were preserved and how long a body may be kept in those circumstances. The deceased’s wife and adult children live in Mumbai.

Police have not disclosed the identities of the family or the man. The clinic’s management and the family did not provide a public response in the source material. Cryopreservation of cells, tissues and embryos is an established scientific practice.

Cryonics, however, involves preserving human remains at extremely low temperatures in the hope that future medical technology might make revival possible, and remains experimental. The report says India has no specific law that expressly bans or permits cryonics. That legal uncertainty has led police to consult experts before deciding what action to take.

A decision on the man’s final rites has not yet been made. The source material provides no further details about the clinic’s equipment, the condition of the remains or whether any criminal case has been registered. Police are continuing to examine the circumstances and the legal implications of the preservation.