The brother of a Bangladeshi expat has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Health against a private hospital in Jeddah for negligence after the body of his brother, who had died at the hospital, was found to have decomposed 70 percent at the hospital morgue a mere 10 days after his death.

The management had reportedly refused to hand over the body of Abu Hussein Nur Zaman, 42, to his relatives until they had paid the outstanding bill of SR5,000, the paper said.

Mohamed Siraj, the man’s brother, however, said that hospital management only informed him of his brother’s death four days after he had died.

When family members tried to send the body back to Bangladesh, a medical practitioner told them that the body had already fully decomposed with the exception of the head, the paper said.

The patient had been admitted to a local hospital after suffering from an unknown disease two months ago. His case had initially been misdiagnosed and Nur Zaman was treated accordingly. It was discovered, however, that Zaman had been infected with HIV in its advanced stages and had died last month.

“My brother had an insurance coverage policy of up to SR30,000 and his treatment had not cost more than SR17,000,” Zaman’s brother said.

He said the hospital misdiagnosed and mistreated his brother’s case.

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