Dilemma of Dead Body Rights: 200 Dead Bodies Found Abandoned On Hospital Roof In Pakistan

Reportedly, the head of the anatomy department of the medical college informed that police and rescue officers bring these bodies to keep them and never take them back on time. This leads to the piling of the bodies

Many unidentified and decomposing bodies have been recovered from the roof of a hospital in Pakistan's Multan city last week. As per reports, hundreds of human body parts have been recovered from the roof of Nishtar Hospital's mortuary. The government has decided to probe the incident. Reportedly, the number of bodies recovered stood at nearly 200.

As per reports, the dead bodies dumped on the hospital's roof had seen vultures and crows scavenging on them. Gory images of the same had gone viral on social media.

The Chief Minister of the state of Punjab in Pakistan, Parvez Elahi has constituted a committee to investigate the incident in not more than three days.

Gruesome view

As per reports, a whistleblower had tipped the advisor to Chief Minister, Tariq Zaman Gujjar, about the abandoned dead bodies. As the minister approached the hospital roof that also mounts the mortuary, he saw some resistance coming from hospital staff in opening up the door. As the minister entered the roof, he saw the bare dead bodies of men and women lying open to the attack of maggots.

Not a matter of disrespect, says hospital

The gruesome visuals initiated a hue and cry over social media platforms with people demanding an ethical and moral explanation of the incident. A former Pakistan minister was seen attaching the hospital's response to the situation. As per the Head of the Department of the Nishtar Medical University, the bodies were handed over to the hospital by the police and rescue officers. As per the law and rights, hospitals have to accept the bodies for safekeeping. As per the hospital authorities, the bodies were decaying and foul-smelling and were at different stages of decomposition. Reportedly, the bodies were in a bad state and couldn't be used for teaching purposes as well.

Reportedly, the head of the anatomy department of the medical college informed that police and rescue officers bring these bodies to keep them and never take them back on time. This leads to the piling of the bodies.

The Head of the Department reasoned that very often unclaimed bodies are brought to the hospital by the police and they can be used for medical purposes as well. Many a time, after the complete decomposition of the body, bones are retrieved from these bodies for teaching purposes. Following the retrieval of the bones, the remains are buried properly.

Indian law on unclaimed dead bodies

As per the Indian Law Code, if a person dies in a hospital and his or her body is not claimed by any family member or relatives, then the authority in charge of such hospital, with the least practicable delay, will report the fact to the authorised officer, and the said officer shall take possession of the unclaimed body and hand over to the authority in charge of a teaching medical institution if it is required by that authority to conduct pathological or anatomical examination and dissection. As per health experts, it is usually on the direction of the concerned investigating officers that unclaimed dead bodies are sent to a burial site. Hospitals do not have any role in the execution of final rites.