Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, is now under fire for a series of grave accusations, including the illicit sale of deceased bodies. These explosive allegations come from Akhtar Ali, a former deputy superintendent at the same hospital, who has exposed a disturbing narrative.
In an exclusive with India Today, Ali revealed that Ghosh was allegedly entangled in a sinister operation, trafficking biomedical waste and medical supplies across the border to Bangladesh. Even more shocking, Ali accused Ghosh of participating in the unethical sale of unclaimed corpses, which were reportedly sold to individuals with additional security clearances and then exported.
Ali took decisive action, presenting his allegations to the state vigilance commission and participating in a probe that ultimately held Ghosh accountable. However, in a twist of fate, Ali was transferred from his role the very day he handed over the damning report to the state health department.
While the courts will ultimately decide Ghosh’s guilt, the implications of a dead body trade ring extend far beyond national borders, raising alarms on an international scale.
Kolkata’s tryst with ‘dead body business’
Medical students worldwide depend on anatomical models for their training, but behind these educational tools lies a disturbing truth. As revealed in an NPR report, a shadowy trade in human skeletons has thrived in Kolkata for over 200 years, supplying universities and hospitals worldwide.
This grim trade traces its roots to the British colonial era, when grave robbers were employed to excavate bodies from Indian cemeteries for medical use. Despite evolving laws, the gruesome practice of exhuming and selling skeletons continues to this day. In many parts of Kolkata, cemeteries have been disturbed for decades, their graves long emptied.
What was once a booming multimillion-dollar industry in the 1970s faced a significant blow when India officially banned the export of human remains on 16 August 1985. This decision followed shocking allegations that some traders were resorting to murder to obtain skeletons. However, the ban wasn’t India’s first attempt to curb this trade. Earlier bans, first in 1952 and then during the Emergency, were swiftly lifted—the first lasting only a few months and the second reversed after the Janata Party came to power.
While the new law forced many companies out of business, one Kolkata-based firm, Young Brothers, continued operating until complaints from locals led the government to intervene. Founded in 1980, Young Brothers markets itself as a leading producer and supplier of medical education and training models. With decades of experience, the company offers an extensive range of products, including pathology models, Child CPR Training Manikins, pharmacology models, and skeletal materials. Among their offerings, they advertise “Disarticulated Skeleton Real Original Bones” and life-sized human skeletons, priced at Rs 3,020 each. Although these items are marketed for legitimate medical study, it is critical to ensure that their origins are not part of a sinister history.
A 1985 India Today article referenced a Life magazine feature that revealed a darker side of this trade. During the Bengal famine in 1943, Kolkata-based exporter Sanker Narayan Sen allegedly crafted skeletons from famine victims fished out of rivers or collected from the killing fields of Bengal. Sen’s business thrived for four decades until he denounced it after retirement, provoking resentment from the Association of Exporters of Anatomical Specimens. The association even petitioned then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on behalf of 13 Kolkata-based exporters and their 300 employees, who depended on the skeleton trade for their livelihood. Skeleton importers in the US, Europe and Japan—who relied entirely on India, the world’s sole exporter of skeletons—also protested the ban.
This dark legacy of Kolkata’s skeleton trade serves as a stark reminder that behind the tools of medical education, there can be unsettling truths that stretch across centuries.
Why bone markets thrive in India
India’s journey of economic liberalisation, privatisation and the surge of consumerism since the 1990s has undeniably brought numerous benefits to the common man but also paved the way for significant legal, ethical and human rights challenges.
The rise of medical colleges in India, which have more than doubled since 1980, has fuelled an increased demand for human skeletons for anatomy education. Despite the Indian government’s 1985 ban on the export of human remains, the illegal trade in human bones has persisted, driven by weak enforcement of laws and widespread poverty. According to a report in The National News, this underground trade sees an estimated 20,000-25,000 human skeletons smuggled out of India annually, primarily to medical institutions in the United States, Japan, Europe and the Middle East.
India’s fascination with anatomy is deeply rooted in history with ancient scholars like those from the Atreya-Charaka and Sushruta schools documenting a large number of bones in the human body. British colonial rule further institutionalised the study of anatomy leading to a formal demand for human skeletons in medical education. The post-1985 scenario, however, reflects a grim reality where, despite legal prohibitions, the demand for human skeletons is met through clandestine operations, often exploiting the poorest segments of society.
While privatisation and economic liberalisation have brought substantial progress to India, the dark side of these developments cannot be ignored. The illegal trade in human bones and more so in dead bodies, is a stark reminder of the need for stronger regulations, better enforcement and a more ethical approach to medical education. The challenge lies in balancing economic growth with the protection of human rights ensuring that progress does not come at the cost of the most vulnerable.
Legal and ethical violations
The flourishing black market in human remains flagrantly violates several laws, including Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty. It also contravenes the Transplantation of Human Organ Act, 1994. Beyond its legal breaches, this trade raises grave ethical and human rights concerns, often preying on marginalised communities who are coerced or deceived into selling the remains of their loved ones.
In an advisory on upholding the rights and dignity of the deceased, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) highlighted a significant gap in India’s legal framework—there is no specific legislation dedicated to protecting the rights of the dead. Despite this, courts have consistently emphasised the importance of upholding the dignity of the deceased. In the landmark 1989 Parmanand Katara v. Union of India case, the Supreme Court ruled that the rights to life, fair treatment, and dignity, as enshrined in Article 21, extend to a person’s dead body. These posthumous rights grant the deceased moral standing in the legal system, ensuring their wishes and interests are respected even after death.
The NHRC advisory stresses the State’s duty to protect these rights, especially in cases of natural and unnatural deaths, such as accidents, suicides and homicides. To combat crimes against the dead and ensure their dignity, the advisory calls for the creation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) by states and Union Territories. These SOPs should be developed in consultation with key stakeholders—including hospital administrations, police, forensic experts, district administrations, municipal bodies, civil society groups and citizens—to ensure comprehensive protection and respect for the deceased.
India’s legal framework for regulating the trade in human remains is riddled with gaps. Although Article 21 of the Constitution provides for the dignity of the deceased, enforcement remains woefully inadequate. The NHRC’s call for comprehensive procedures to safeguard the deceased has yet to translate into effective action. The lack of stringent enforcement and coordination among various stakeholders—including hospitals, police, and funeral services—has allowed the black market to thrive, undermining the very dignity that the law seeks to protect.
‘Dead body business’ is global
Recent revelations by Newsweek have uncovered a chilling case in northern China, where prosecutors have charged dozens in a decade-long scheme involving the illegal trafficking of human cadavers. According to an indictment leaked in May by the Taiyuan People’s Procuratorate, the operation spanned at least seven provinces and nearly a dozen localities. The accused—ranging from funeral home managers and doctors to company shareholders—allegedly trafficked over 4,000 bodies to Shanxi Osteorad Biomaterial Co. and Sichuan Hengpu Technology Co., generating approximately $53 million from 2015 to 2023.
Shanxi Osteorad, a key player in the bone graft market and a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Nuclear Corp, has been accused of falsifying donor agreements and mishandling cadavers. This scandal shines a harsh light on a broader issue within China’s biomedical industry, where despite stringent regulations, enforcement is evidently lacking.
But this isn’t just a problem in China. Across the globe, the United States is grappling with its own issues in the trafficking of human remains. While organ and tissue transplants are tightly regulated, the sale of cadavers for research and education remains largely unchecked. Experts like Angela McArthur from the University of Minnesota Medical School have pointed out that the lack of federal oversight has turned the market into a “free-for-all,” according to a Reuters report.
High-profile cases, such as the Harvard Medical School scandal in June 2023, have brought the issue into stark relief. In this case, up to 400 cadavers from the school’s anatomical gifts programme were allegedly sold, reflecting a troubling trend where body donation programmes are exploited for profit.
The illegal trade in human remains is a complex global issue, entangled with cultural, legal and economic factors. The cases in China, the US and India highlight a widespread problem where regulations are struggling to keep up with illicit practices. Tackling this challenge requires robust international cooperation, stronger regulatory frameworks and greater public awareness. Countries must enforce stricter controls, ensure transparency in body donation programmes and close the loopholes that allow for the exploitation of the deceased. Only through comprehensive measures and global solidarity can we truly uphold the integrity and dignity of human remains.
Global context and India’s role
India’s situation underscores a critical global problem: the inadequate regulation of the human remains trade. The challenges faced by India are mirrored in other nations underscoring the urgent need for international cooperation and a unified approach to protect the dignity of the deceased.
While India has made progress in curbing the illegal bone trade, significant challenges persist. To effectively combat the global black market in human remains, the country must intensify its efforts to close legal loopholes and strengthen regulatory frameworks. The dignity of the deceased depends on a concerted global response and India’s actions are a crucial part of this broader effort.
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