COVID-19: 82-year-old, missing for eight days, found dead in hospital toilet in Maharashtra

The world has never witnessed a pandemic like COVID-19. As the health and well-being of individuals depend on a country’s health sector, here is an incident from India, wherein the body of an 82-year-old Malati Nehete, a coronavirus patient who had gone missing for eight days was found inside the toilet of a civil hospital in Jalgaon district, Maharastra, India. The police have said that a missing complaint was received from the hospital on June 6. The matter is being investigated.

As reported by a local news source, the dead body of the elderly woman was discovered after patients in the hospital complained of a foul smell from the toilet. The dysfunctional CCTV cameras posed more difficulties for the police. Her body was partially decomposed when recovered. This is the second recorded case of a coronavirus patient going missing and later being found dead.

Social media users shared their emotional responses through twitter.

Tweep@PadmajaJoshi posted: “An elderly lady ‘disappears’ from Covid hospital in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Staff says ‘she simply walked away’. Except her body was found decomposing in a toilet stall *8 days later*. For a week, no one bothered to even check toilets. Unconscionable.”

The incident has reportedly caused outrage amongst the people of the district. Maharashtra is the worst coronavirus affected state in the country. Jalgaon district has one of the highest fatality rates for the disease in India. According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state are 94,041, including 46,086 active cases.