MEERUT: The body of a woman, in her mid-30s, was recovered from a canal in Meerut on Friday, perhaps yet another case of an "unidentified" body found in the city and its adjoining areas.SHO (Bahsuma), Santosh Kumar, told TOI on Saturday, "It was over 50% decomposed, and her face was half-eaten, possibly by stray dogs. The body was found after the canal water level dipped.It may have come from elsewhere. The cause of death may be ascertained after a postmortem." According to a senior official, the tally of bodies found in Meerut district in the past four years is 814, of which police have identified only 57 so far.Data recently accessed by TOI shows: "Medical police station limits tops with 303 cadavers and only one has been identified. Its followed by Daurala (45) and Railway Road (43). In most cases, autopsy reports attributed the cause of death to illness. Drownings have also been reported. Some may have met a violent end and been dumped in secluded locations." Last month, the body of a man without its head and a limb was found under the culvert of a drain in Daurala. Days later, a half-naked body of a woman, in her mid-30s, was found in a park. Both are yet to be identified. In February, the naked body of a 30-year-old woman was found in a sack in Meeruts Kharkhoda area. A day later, a chilling video of a man, yet to be traced, was seen purportedly ferrying the sack on his shoulder and looking for a place to dump it. In December 2022, the headless body of a woman, in her 20s, was found in Meeruts Lisari Gate locality. Investigation revealed it was an "honour killing". In June that year, a mutilated body of an unidentified woman, in a decomposed state, was found in a drain in Cantonment area.Such incidents are not limited to Meerut. Similar cases have been reported from other parts of western UP, such as Shamli, where bodies of two women were found in May 2020 near a sugarcane field in Jaganpur forest. The case remains unresolved. SP (Meerut), Piyush Kumar, said, "We maintain a record of unclaimed bodies and usually wait for at least 72 hours for someone to come forward and then send for the last rites, as per the rituals."

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