Patient found dead, decomposed in Mianwali hospital’s locked store

MIANWALI: A decomposed body of an elderly man was found in a locked store at District Headquarters Hospital on Thursday.

According to reports, after an accident in Isakhel tehsil in February, Rescue 1122 workers transported an old man with a fractured leg to DHQ Hospital. After being admitted to the general ward, he started getting medical attention.

Muhammad Ali, the son of Muhammad Asif, was identified as the patient. None of his family visited him during his stay. It was discovered that the injured man also suffered from a mental illness and had trouble speaking. He was moved to a separate room because other patients in the ward had complained about him.

The health secretary for Punjab paid a visit to the hospital a few days ago. Some hospital employees transferred the patient from the side room to an empty store and closed the door until the secretary’s visit was over out of concern for any “objectionable” behavior on the patient’s part. Afterward, the personnel neglected to release him.

A few days later, the hospital personnel became suspicious of a bad stench that was permeating the building. The body was located on the floor, decomposed after a few employees opened the closed storeroom.

Mianwali Deputy Commissioner Khalid Javed Gorayia rushed to the DHQ Hospital upon hearing the news and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

An inquiry committee, headed by DHO (HR) Dr. Rafiqe Khan, was appointed.

The autopsy report is awaited to ascertain the cause of death. The hospital administration buried the body of an unknown person.