Decaying bodies found on Pakistan hospital roof; probe ordered

Several putrefied bodies have been found dumped on the rooftop of a public sector hospital in Pakistan's Punjab province that sparked outcry on social media over their desecration.

Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi on Friday took a strict notice of this and formed a high-powered committee to investigate the matter. The six-member committee headed by specialised healthcare secretary Muzamil Bashir has been given three days to complete the probe and fix the responsibility.

Adviser to the Chief Minister Chaudhry Zaman Gujjar on Thursday visited the Nishter Hospital in Multan, some 350 kms from Lahore, and found several "abandoned" bodies on the roof of the hospital's mortuary.

The Chief Minister has ordered cremation of the abandoned bodies and directed the health authorities to take action against the employees involved in the matter.

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Nishtar Medical University’s Prof Dr Maryam Asharf said in a statement on Friday that it received “unclaimed, unidentified and unknown dead bodies” from the police department.

“The process of decomoposition has begun in such bodies and they were put on the roof of the dead house for different medical purposes. These bodies are used for medical experiments by students and this is done in accordance with rules laid down of the government,” she said.

“This is not unusual as bones and skulls are extracted for further medical use,” Ashraf said.

Videos circulating on social media on Friday showed several bodies dumped on the roof in a bad condition, sparking rumours that the bodies were kept on the roof to be used as fodder for eagles and vultures.

The Baloch separatists on social media are claiming that these could be the bodies of their missing persons.