Thousands of families in the state live their lives in uncertainty due to a loved one who hasn’t returned home. Be it a son who once stepped out, a father who vanished into oblivion or a sister who now lives only in memories—the stories are never ending.With a ray of hope in their eyes, such families wait at bus stands, police stations, railway stations and hospital corridors, even until the fag end of their lives.However, the state government has taken an initiative that is likely to help such families, launching Pehchaan—a portal to identify unclaimed bodies. The portal has provided renewed hope to such distraught families.Every year, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people die whose bodies remain classified as “unknown and unclaimed” in the state. Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana together account for nearly half of these unclaimed bodies.The urban centres, marred by migration and fractured social ties, reveal how anonymity thrives where community bonds weaken. The geography of unclaimed bodies mirrors the geography of social breakdown. In contrast, Fatehgarh Sahib sees almost no such bodies, except during the annual Jor Mela.On the new portal—designed to break this cycle of waiting—families can log in, view dignified and blood-free images, and match details like clothing, tattoos and birthmarks to identify their loved ones. The portal was launched on September 2 by Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh. It has already recorded 550 logins, with 320 photographs uploaded and 27 claims partially initiated.Each claim represents a family finally moving from uncertainty to closure. The portal is the brainchild of Dr Charan Kamal Ladhar, Assistant Director of Medico Legal Services, Punjab.“It is the first portal of its kind launched by any state government in India. Every year, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 human beings die unknown and unclaimed in the state. The question is: who are these people? They are not statistics but our own people. Some left home in the grip of mental illness, some were daily-wage workers who migrated for employment and suffered an accident far from home, some were victims of drug addiction separated from family and lost to the streets and some were victims of crime whose cases were never solved,” said Dr Ladhar.On the portal, the photographs and physical descriptions for identification of every unidentified deceased person are uploaded within 48 hours of post-mortem at any government mortuary in the state. The portal is publicly accessible via all websites of the Health Department, free of charge and searchable by families from anywhere in India or abroad.Upon submission of a claim, the investigating officer concerned is automatically notified for further legal process. Nearly 50 to 60 per cent of deaths remain unexplained, pointing toward deeper crises like untreated mental illness, loneliness and an erosion of family support systems.Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) president Dr Akhil Sareen said the platform represents more than digitalisation for the medical fraternity—it is a bridge between an unidentified person and a family’s unfinished story of waiting.“If Pehchaan helps even one family replace years of uncertainty with the simple truth, every effort behind it will have been worth it,” he added.Its success will depend not only on technology, but on empathy from the police, hospitals and communities—who must walk alongside families in their search.A Ludhiana-based psychologist says the effect of missing family members on those left behind is grave.“Families of missing persons live with an ambiguous loss, a mental state where grief is suspended because closure never arrives. The uncertainty can be even more psychologically damaging than confirmed loss. It often leads to anxiety, depression, sleep loss and even physical decline. Their minds shift between hope and despair, which doesn’t let them heal. Children in such households may grow up with insecurity and trust issues. Adults often withdraw socially and feel isolated in their pain. Platforms like Pehchaan are not just about identification; they give such families closure. The families will finally be able to grieve and move towards emotional recovery,” says Dr. Deepti, a Ludhiana-based clinical psychologist.Families searching for loved ones are not just confronting death, they are confronting the fragility of the state’s social fabric. Though the portal can’t heal these fractures, it can at least restore dignity to the dead and relief to the living, said Dr Balbir while launching the portal.