The Resurfaced Dead Of The Ganges River
The Ganges River is regarded as a holy river by Hindus. Many ceremonies are held on it’s banks. Not all families can afford a proper cremation or burial for their loved ones, leaving them no choice but to dump them directly into the river. On 14 January 2015, more than 1 hundred bodies were found washed up in the shallows of the Ganges River in Unnao district. The bodies, which were mostly of children and unmarried girls, were first noticed by the villagers when crows and dogs were feeding on them. The bodies were retrieved from the river and samples were taken for forensic DNA profiling, as, according to officials, post-mortems were not possible. One of the explanations given by the officials was that since the river had changed its course due to the construction of a new barrage, the water level became lower and the bodies resurfaced. The discovery of so many bodies in the Ganges, sparked renewed concerns about the health of the river. The bodies were later reburied on the banks