UAE | General
Unclaimed body prompts new law to cover expenses
An unidentified body has been lying in the morgue of the preventive medicine department for more than a year, according to an official.
- By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:53 May 23, 2008
Abu Dhabi: An unidentified body has been lying in the morgue of the preventive medicine department for more than a year, according to an official.
Sometimes, bodies are kept at the morgue for a long time and this has prompted authorities to introduce a law that will compel claimants of bodies to pay a fine or expenses (compensation) for unreasonable delay in collecting the body, said the official who did not want to be named.
The new regulation is being discussed at high levels.
It will make it mandatory for claimants to take the body from the morgue as soon as police give permission after their investigations, he said.
"People who collect the body will have to pay a fine or expenses per day if they cannot give a proper reason for delays."
Delay
Most of the time there is a delay on the part of relatives, employers and embassies to take the body from the morgue, he added.
The official said no claimants had come forward for the body which had been there for a year.
It was brought to the morgue from Al Rahba Hospital in Abu Dhabi on April 6, 2007.
"The morgue spends a large amount of money to keep a body for more than one year. The expenses are not the biggest issue as the facilities are provided by the government.
"But a body kept for a long time is a serious health hazard to the morgue staff," he said.
Records say the man's name is Joe Bayanath Balaya. He died in a road accident in Jebel Ali in Dubai, said the official.
Although his nationality is given as Indian, no proof of identity, such as a copy of a passport, labour card or any other identity card is available, he said.
"We did not receive any information of the friends or relatives of the deceased," he said.
"When we contacted the Indian embassy, they asked for proof of nationality."
The Indian Embassy in a statement issued to Gulf News said embassy officials had visited the hospital on several occasions and had also been in touch with the police officials concerned.
However, records confirming the name and nationality of the deceased had not been made available to the embassy so far. Unless the body has been clearly identified as that of an Indian national it would not be appropriate for the embassy to accept responsibility for it, the statement said.
Even after repeated attempts, the patients affairs department at Al Rahba Hospital did not respond to a fax message and telephone calls from Gulf News.
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