File image of posters of the missing man in Kochi.
Credit: Special arrangement
Thiruvananthapuram: A decomposed body found in a marshy land in Kochi on November 30, 2025 was confirmed to be that of Bengaluru native Suraj Lama, 59, who went missing after being deported from Kuwait.
Pointing out the lapses on the part of various government agencies that led to Lama's missing and subsequent death, a division bench of the Kerala High Court, which was considering a habeas corpus petition filed by his son Santon Lama, tendered an "apology" to the family "on behalf of the system."
Suraj hailing from Kothanur in Bengaluru was into the restaurant business in Kuwait for more than 20 years. He suffered from amnesia last September. As his visa expired he was deported to Kochi instead of Bengaluru on October 5. The police took him to medical college hospital after he was found unwell on the street. He left the hospital unnoticed by the hospital authorities.
His family came to know about it by October 7. His son Santon rushed to Kochi and carried out an extensive search. He criticised the airport, police and hospital authorities for letting his father go despite suffering from amnesia.
On November 30 the decomposed body was found and subjected to DNA test. The test result that came now confirmed the identity.
Santon who came down to Kochi on Friday said that the family plans to perform the last rites in Kochi itself as the body was in a highly decomposed condition.
A division bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice M B Snehalatha considered the case on Friday and flayed the system failures. The court observed that had the systems worked properly Suraj would have been alive now. "This is something that should never happen. We can only apologize to the family on behalf of the system," the court observed.