On the 15th May 2019, I paid a visit to the mortuary at the UKM Medical Centre, Cheras. I was glad and excited that I was given this opportunity to get to know further about forensic study.
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification or removal for autopsy or respectful burial, cremation or other method. The person who are involved in mortuary are the coroner, forensic pathologists and forensic technicians.
Malaysia has certain procedures when death occurs. If a member of your family dies at home then you must call the police at your nearest local police station and an ambulance. The body must not be moved at all. Malaysian Law states that only an official can handle a dead body. The same law states that a medical official must be present to confirm the death for the purposes of the death certificate and records. The body is then transferred to a hospital. The deceased person’s documents must be produced. These include identification card, passport, visas and any medical cards they may have had. Once the body has been removed, taken to hospital and recorded, you will be notified when you can arrange to have the body collected from the hospital.
After the recording of the death has been registered by the police and a medical official, the body can be collected from the hospital for the funeral arrangements to be made. On the release of the body, a letter of release called Surat Kebenaran Pengebumian will be issued. This is the official document that tells funeral directors this body has been recorded by the necessary legal requirements. This process could take longer if an autopsy has to be performed if a medical official was not able to be present on collection of the dead body. This, for example, could be in a place away from home.
The next-of-kin must register the death within seven days of the date of the death being recorded by the police and the hospital. Registration of death is done at a police station. The police report on the death will take seven days. Besides, the death must also be reported to the The National Registration Dept (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara). The death certificate (sijil kematian) will then be issued.
Malaysian law determines whether a person can be buried or cremated. This is determined by the visa status of the deceased. If the deceased was a Malaysian citizen then the body must be buried in Malaysia.
From the visit, I get to learn about how the autopsy process worked in the mortuary. There’s a lot of details needed to be concerned before carry out the autopsy. Besides, I get to know the change occurred on our body due to the decomposition process occurred after our death. Our body will be inflatable and expanded as carbon dioxide was released by the microorganism during the decomposition process.
From the entomology class conducted, I had learned that we can determine the location of crime scene via the insects appeared. It also revealed the timeline of the crime occurred. Besides, I get to know that there’s few factors which will affect the decomposition after death such as moisture levels, submerged corpses, sun exposure, air exposure and weather.
No photos were allowed in the mortuary so yeap sorry to say that no photos for this post.
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