KOCHI: The lifeless body of a vagabond was discovered on Saturday morning, dangling from the gate of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) at Mangalavanam, near the Kerala High Court. The body pierced the iron rods of the eastern gate of the NIO.
Although the deceased remains unidentified, police officials believe that he was frequently spotted wandering around the Marine Drive area.
"The gate has a height of more than 10 feet. It has sharp-edged iron protection bars on top. We suspect that the iron bars pierced into his body while attempting to scale the gate. Our preliminary assessment is that it is an accident death. However, the exact cause of the death will be known once we get the postmortem report," a police official said.
By around 10.30 am, the police team retrieved the body and shifted it to the morgue at Ernakulam General Hospital. Police found that the deceased is a Tamil Nadu native who is a street dweller often found roaming around in the Marine Drive area. He was in his 40s.
KS Sudarshan, Kochi Deputy Commissioner of Police said that a detailed probe was launched into the incident.
"The deceased could not be identified. However, we are collecting information from other street dwellers in the area. A case for unnatural death is registered at Ernakulam Central Police Station. A detailed probe is launched into the incident," Sudarshan said.