- Family preserved 80-year-old man's body for four years in Mumbai.
- Spent ₹50 lakh hoping for future scientific revival through cryonics.
- Police discovered body in Malad polyclinic, ruled out foul play.
The family of an eighty-year-old man preserved his body for four years and spent Rs 50 lakh in the hope that advanced scientific research would one day make revival possible. The family was also exploring ways to send the body to a cryonics facility in the United States, the police said.
The curious case came to light on Monday night after Kurar police received a tip-off and visited a polyclinic in Malad, where the body was found inside a freezer.
According to a report by The Times of India, the man died in 2022 due to cancer, kidney failure and other age-related ailments. Initially, the family kept his body in a freezer at their home in Malad. However, after the redevelopment work started at the building, they moved the body to the polyclinic.
The family allegedly told the police that they were deeply affected by his death and so could not perform his last rites. The man's wife and two children, including a lawyer's daughter, had researched cryonics and had contacted the organisations in the US for long-term preservation.
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They have also been consulting lawyers in India to understand legal aspects for long-term preservation. As per police, the family has so far spent Rs 50 lakh on body preservation.
Intent behind preservation
The police said that the family wants to preserve the body so that it could be revived in future if scientific advancements make it possible one day.
After detailed questioning, the police ruled out foul play and said the man had died of natural causes.
Notably, the organisations in the US offer preservation for future revival. However, cryonics is no established method of reviving a person and is merely experimental.
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The process is highly expensive, with costs for US-based organisations ranging up to about $45,000, depending on the type of preservation and the services involved.