Kerala doctor couriers human bones meant for study purpose to home, almost sets off crime probe

A routine visit to a property at Poonkulam in Thiruvananthapuram, which he looks after for the owner, gave 60-year-old Radhakrishnan Nair a scare last Thursday. While walking through the property, he noticed a carry bag lying on the ground. Inside and around it, he was shocked to find parts of two human skulls and bone fragments resembling human remains. Alarmed, he immediately informed his neighbour Jayan (name changed on request). The two then alerted the local panchayat member and the police before leaving the site to the officials. For the rest of the day, they remained puzzled about how the remains had ended up there.

By evening, however, the mystery began to unravel. Jayan happened to watch a report on a local television channel suggesting the bones might have been used by medical students for study purposes. The report also mentioned that a few names were engraved on the remains, possibly of the previous owners. One of those names caught his attention — Arya (name changed on request), his daughter, a postgraduate medical student pursuing her MD at Government Medical College Thrissur. 

Jayan immediately contacted her, and she confirmed the remains had once belonged to her study skeleton. Within hours, the confusion was resolved.

According to Jayan, a worker hired to clean their house during renovation had accidentally disposed of the bag. “We had gathered old materials and scrap to be cleared out, and the bag containing the skeleton was mixed with them. We ourselves did not check it properly before keeping it outside,” he said.

Arya had purchased the skeleton during her MBBS years in Mangaluru from senior students for around ₹8,000–₹10,000 — a common practice in medical colleges. Students often engrave their names on such study materials to mark ownership. When Arya finished her MBBS three years ago, the skeleton had disintegrated, and she could not pass it on to juniors. She later couriered it home along with her other study materials.

“I received the parcel and stored it somewhere in the house, but over time I completely forgot about the skeleton,” Jayan admitted. When renovation began recently, the family moved old unused items outside near the balcony. The worker tasked with clearing scrap later disposed of the bag, reportedly assuming the small bone fragments were animal remains. “Had he seen the bones clearly, he might have realised they were human. Maybe he skipped the skull pieces,” Jayan said, adding that he would have ensured proper disposal if informed earlier.

An alert about a human skull in a plot set Thiruvallam police on a mission mode. Soon, a pleasant, greeny patch of land dotted with trees had the air of a grisly crime scene. The cops came in tow with forensic teams, collected the remains, and sent them to Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, for examination. During preliminary checks, officials noticed names engraved on the bones, indicating academic use. Station House Officer Pradeep said further details about the age and condition of the bones would emerge only after the medical examination, after which authorities would decide the next steps for disposal. In the meantime, as confusion prevailed, the police also registered a case under Section 194 (unnatural death) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and statements were also recorded as part of the inquiry.

“I didn’t examine the remains closely and left the scene entirely to the authorities on Thursday morning. Later, I even discussed the incident with my friends, and we were all wondering whose remains they could be and how they had ended up there. The police had earlier asked whether there were any MBBS students nearby, but I didn’t mention my daughter since she had already completed her degree. However, we are now relieved as the matter has been resolved,” Jayan added.