Mistreating corpses: Punjab CM suspends Nishtar Hospital staff, police officials
Contrary to initial reports of the presence of 500 bodies, only four were found on the rooftop. PHOTO: EXPRESS
Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Monday ordered the suspension of Nishtar Hospital staff and police officials while expressing his concerns over the sheer negligence and disrespect of unidentified bodies.
In a shocking development, decomposing bodies on Friday were found on the roof of Nishtar Hospital in Multan, prompting the provincial government to form a body to investigate the matter.
On receiving reports of abandoned bodies on the hospital roof, the Punjab chief minister ordered his Adviser Chaudhry Tariq Zaman Gujjar to pay a surprise visit to the medical facility and submit a report after reviewing the situation.
Contrary to initial reports of the presence of 500 bodies, only four were there, as could be seen in a now viral video of the CM adviser’s visit.
Some reports claim that the Nishtar Medical University (NMU) administration was worried about the surprise visit and opening the door of the hospital’s roof.
According to a spokesperson for NMU, four sets of human remains were found on the roof, all largely decomposed.
Additional Chief Secretary Capt (retd) Saqib Zafar directed Specialised Healthcare Secretary Muzamil Bashir to look into the incident. He also formed a six-member team to investigate the matter.
Read more: Rotting bodies found on roof of Multan hospital
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Monday presented an inquiry report about Nishtar Hospital Multan incident. In light of the inquiry report, the chief minister directed to suspend three Nishtar Hospital doctors, as many employees and two SHOs over negligence.
On his direction, the head of the anatomy department Prof Dr Maryam Ashraf and demonstrators Dr Abdul Wahab and Dr Seerat Abbas, Umar Farooq SHO of PS Shah Rukn-e-Aalam Colony and Saeed Sial SHO PS Seetal Mari, hospital employees namely Ghulam Abbas, Muhammad Sajjad Nasir and Abdul Rauf have been suspended and removed from their posts.
The chief minister also directed that action under the PEEDA Act should also be taken against the negligent officials as such a treatment with corpses is unacceptable.
"The more this incident is condemned the less it would be as the Islamic teachings about the burial of dead bodies is obvious. An inhuman act has been committed by throwing dead bodies on the rooftop and disrespect to corpses is intolerable," he further said.
Former federal minister Moonis Elahi, IG police, ACS (Home), Special Secretary Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department and others were present in the meeting.
Dr Maryam Ashraf, while talking to The Express Tribune earlier, said that the unidentified bodies brought by police were chemically treated and stored in the freezer, provided the process of decomposition had not started.
She added that if nobody claimed a body for a month, the police were informed about it and it was used for teaching students, according to the prevailing norms of the home and health departments.
Dr Maryam said some bodies were brought to the hospital in such a state that the process of decomposition had already set in and it was impossible to keep them in the mortuary.
“These corpses are kept in rooms built on the roof for many years and after complete putrefaction, their skeletons are removed and cleaned with chemicals for teaching purposes. This process is not illegal,” she added.
Sources claimed that the unidentified abandoned bodies found on the roof of the hospital were brought by the police and placed on the roof, while the anatomy department staff delayed placing them in their designated rooms.
Dr Maryam maintained that the practice of putrefying bodies on the roof of NMU would continue until the SOPs changed. She added that the incident was an attempt to politicise the issue.
“We have a cold storage where we keep bodies. The police bring unidentified bodies to the hospital. The decomposition process in these bodies has already begun. These bodies are kept in rooms on the roof. All of this is done in accordance with the guidelines of the home and health departments. The impression of 500 or 5,000 bodies being present [on the hospital roof is entirely incorrect,” she added.