Maharashtra’s second Diatom lab to start at Sassoon hospital

PUNE: Maharashtra’s second diatom test laboratory, to ascertain deaths caused by drowning, will become operational at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) soon.

PUNE: Maharashtra’s second diatom test laboratory, to ascertain deaths caused by drowning, will become operational at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) soon.

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Presently, only one such lab exists at Mumbai’s state government-run JJ Hospital.

Diatom tests are done to determine whether the death of a person occurred due to drowning or whether the body was put in the water post death. This test can provide crucial information during the investigation of suspected murders. In the absence of such a lab in Pune, samples are currently sent to Mumbai which causes loss of time and money.

The Diatom lab will be located in the new Forensic department of Sassoon General Hospital and become operational around March or April. The laboratory will be set up using CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds from the Bank of Baroda said, Harish Tatiya, the hospital’s forensic medicine expert.

“The Diatom test is crucial in many investigative cases and even if the tests are negative it can be concluded that the death did not occur near that specific water body where the dead body was found. There are certain algae or bacteria which enter the lungs and bones in case of death by drowning which are examined in this test. It can be used to conclude whether the drowning took place post-mortem or ante-mortem. We get requests by many investigative officers in cases of suspected murder cases for this test and so such a laboratory was required in Pune,” Tatiya said.

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