Bodies Left to Rot on Rooftop of Pakistani Hospital Sparks Public Outcry

Pakistani policemen stand guard outside a property in Multan on July 16, 2016. (SHAHID SAEED MIRZA/AFP via Getty Images)

Scores of decaying human bodies, some with maggots and attracting hovering scavengers, were found on the roof of a public hospital in Multan city of Pakistan on Oct. 14. Brought to light by a whistleblower, the situation led to public outcry amidst fears of a violation of medical ethics.

Pakistan media GeoTV cited sources on Friday for its report on dozens of unidentified bodies in a room on the roof of Nishtar Hospital’s mortuary. The actual situation is not yet clear, with local media also citing clamor about the recovery of allegedly hundreds of human body parts from the roof on social media.

Multan, located in the state of Punjab, and its administration created a six-member committee to investigate the matter after disturbing videos and pictures started appearing on social media.

A political leader and former federal minister, Moonis Elahi on Oct. 14 shared a response from the hospital that said the unidentified bodies were handed over by the police to the hospital for post-mortems and that it was permissible to use them for educational purpose for MBBS students.

“These bodies are decayed and foul smelling. These cannot be kept in the freezer. These bodies were in so [sic] bad condition that they can’t be used for teaching purpose as well. So, after the process of complete putrefaction, the Bones are retrieved from these bodies for medical students for teaching purpose,” said the hospital response shared by Elahi on Twitter.

“So there is no issue of disrespect of these dead bodies. After the retrieval of bones, these bodies are always buried properly.”

However, Geo TV reported that the majority of freezers in the hospital’s cold room had been dysfunctional for years. Since only one of the five freezers were operational, the cold room could accommodate only seven to eight bodies and the rest were dumped in the two rooms on the terrace, the report claimed.

The whistleblower had reported to the Punjab chief minister’s advisor Tariq Zaman Gujjar, who got the morgue opened and allegedly found at least 200 rotting bodies lying around.

“All the decomposing bodies [of both men and women] were bare. Even women’s bodies weren’t covered,” Gujjar told GeoTV. “‘Do you sell these bodies?’ I asked the mortuary authorities.”

He said the doctors told him the bodies were used by students for educational purposes.

“Two of the bodies on the roof were rather in the early stages of decomposition. Maggots were all over them,” Gujjar said, adding that he has never witnessed anything like it in his life and that the bodies deserved ritualistic burial after being used for educational purposes.

“Vultures and worms were scavenging on the corpses on the roof. Our tally showed there were at least 35 bodies on the rooftop of the mortuary.”

Pakistani lawmakers demanded a parliamentary committee investigation into the matter on Monday, with some alleging that the response of the hospital management was not satisfactory, reported Pakistan Today.

Meanwhile leading Pakistan daily Dawn reported on Monday that three state institutions were reluctant to pay 200 Pakistani rupees (less than $1) for identification of the unclaimed bodies. This identification is essential to finding the families and eventually giving a respectable send-off to the deceased.

Outlawed group Tehreek-e-Taliban, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, blamed the Pakistan government for the discovery of the rotting dead bodies and claimed the Pakistani army and intelligence services were behind it, according to Asian Network International.