80-year-old man kept in freezer for nearly 4 years in Malad cremated as family explored sending it to US for cryonics

Kurar police found the body after residents raised an alert and counselled the family, who later agreed to conduct the man’s last rites.

An 80-year-old man’s body, kept inside a freezer at a Malad clinic for nearly four years after his death, was finally cremated on Wednesday after Kurar police discovered it and counselled his family. The family had allegedly been exploring the possibility of preserving the body and sending it to the US for cryonic preservation.

Police said neither the family nor the clinic management had informed them about the arrangement. (Praful Gangurde/HT) (Representative Image)

The matter came to light on Monday night after residents alerted the Kurar police. Officers who reached the polyclinic found the man’s body inside a freezer. The clinic had been shut for around a month for renovation.

Police said documents produced by the family showed that the man had died of natural causes in 2022. According to the family, they had been unable to come to terms with his death and later began researching cryonics which is an experimental practice in which legally dead people are preserved at extremely low temperatures in the hope that future technology could potentially revive or treat them.

The family told police they had contacted organisations in the US that provide cryonics services and were exploring ways to transport the body there. They had also consulted lawyers in India about the legality of keeping the body preserved until arrangements could be made to send it abroad.

The body, however, remained at the clinic for nearly four years. Police said neither the family nor the clinic management had informed them about the arrangement.

The owner of the property, which had been rented out as a clinic since 2022, also told police that he was unaware a body was being kept there. Police recorded statements on Tuesday from the family, clinic management and the property owner. The family includes the deceased’s elderly wife and adult children. After a lengthy counselling session, police said the family agreed to conduct the man’s last rites on Wednesday. No FIR has been registered so far.