Mumbai man fishes dead bodies for living; helps families get closure

In an eerie yet inspiring tale of a Mumbai man, Mohammed 'Kallu' Sharafat Hussain, has spent nearly two decades helping families of the deceased get closure. He has dedicated a better part of his life to one of the most unusual jobs in the world – fishing out dead bodies from the most unexpected places where no one would generally think of going.

Kallu has made a reputation by helping those in dire need of his services. It also includes the Mumbai Police and municipal authorities, who need help recovering bodies from drains and wells. In the last two decades, he claims to have recovered more than 200 bodies from Mumbai's Mithi River.

"The officers from the fire brigade cannot go into the muck because they wear shoes. I just wear a towel and somehow crawl over to the spot. And if it is in the middle of the river then it's more challenging because over there neither any rope can reach nor my boat. So it does get difficult sometimes," Hussain was quoted as saying.

Hussian's job isn't without risks either. During his search for dead bodies, he often gets hurt with broken glass pieces. Sometimes he gets a tetanus shot, sometimes he doesn't. But it hasn't stopped him or slowed him down in his efforts to help grieving families who have lost their loved one.

Giving families the closure

Describing his experience, fishing out dead bodies often brings just hands, legs or sometimes even the heads. He brings out the dead bodies from the dump and does his due diligence to identify if it is a murder or an accident by looking for injuries on the body. Given his expertise, Kallu is often the go-to guy for finding lost dead bodies.

"I have seen hell in this world. So I consider it my duty to clean up these bodies before they leave this world. In this way, I get to do some noble work and hopefully get blessings from it," Hussain said.

Hussain belongs to West Bengal originally and moved to Mumbai to become a driver in 1992 after his parents were killed in the riots. Hussian also earned fame in his locality through his voice, as he'd sing some melodies to keep people around entertained. Even to this day, he sings to keep his love for music alive. Besides this, Hussain is also a truck driver by profession.