Abstract
Homeless people are at increased risk of death for several reasons. We reviewed 735 cases of homeless, unclaimed persons found dead in public places in South Delhi who were brought for autopsy at the Department of Forensic Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, during the study period from 2001-2005. Most of the deceased were male (n=645, 87.75%) with a M: F ratio of 7.17:1. The commonest age group involved was 31-40 years (n=228, 31.02%). Most victims (n=451, 61.36%) died from natural causes, followed by accidental deaths (n=233, 31.70%) and homicides (n=26, 3.54%). The majority of deaths were reported in the rainy season (n=284, 38.64%). The deceased were mostly recovered from the road or road side (n=352, 47.89%). Few studies on this subject have been published in India. More research is needed to identify the health-related problems of such people and possible contributory factors to mortality.
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