The Corpse Collector: A True Story

In India, an unnatural death – an accident, a suicide, a killing –turns a human body into something untouchable. The moment life leaves it, caste, fear and stigma turn the deceased into an abomination, an object no one will approach. Families recoil,neighbours avert their eyes and even those tasked with public duty step back. And into that silence walks Vinu.

A professional corpse collector, Vinu P does what society refuses to do. With compassion that seems bottomless, he gathers shattered bodies from roadsides and canals, helps the police with inquests and post-mortems, and buries the unclaimed dead with dignity. He is the last witness to countless lives – and yet, for the people he serves, he remains invisible, shunned and expendable.

This searing memoir – written by Vinu P and Niyas Kareem, and translated from the Malayalam with elegance and clarity by the acclaimed Ministhy S. – tells the story of a man who has spent his life among the dead but is most wounded by the living. A critically acclaimed bestseller in Malayalam, this is a gritty work of reportage that forces us to confront the people we refuse to see