Indian Hospital Seizes Bangladeshi Woman’s Passport, Husband’s Body for Eight Days

A 26 year old Bangladeshi woman has accused a leading private hospital in Bengaluru of holding her husband’s body for eight days after he died during treatment. The hospital cited an unpaid bill of 3,579,000 rupees as the reason. The hospital also kept her passport during this time.

Ms. Tanjila Islam Asha received her husband’s body on Saturday after she sought help from the Bangladesh High Commission. The hospital confirmed that it handed over the body but did not comment on her allegations. The hospital later said doctors gave the patient advanced ICU care and surgery for severe breathing difficulty, but all efforts failed and he died.

Ms. Asha is a resident of Naogaon in Bangladesh. She told the Times of India that she and her husband, Mr. Mohammad Abdul Hakim Sabuj, 32, arrived in Bengaluru on September 5 for kidney treatment. Mr. Sabuj worked as a contract based government teacher in Bangladesh. He developed severe chest pain and breathing trouble the next day, and doctors admitted him to the ICU at Manipal Hospital on Old Airport Road.

Ms. Asha said doctors performed several procedures and surgeries on Mr. Sabuj over the following days. An infection spread through his body, so doctors amputated his right leg on September 14. His condition worsened further after that, and he died at around 1:30 p.m. on September 18.

Ms. Asha said she paid a total of 750,000 rupees in several installments whenever the hospital asked for money during the treatment. After her husband died, she began thinking about how she would take his body back to Bangladesh. At that point, the hospital demanded another 3,579,000 rupees. The hospital said it would not release the body until she paid this bill.

Ms. Asha also alleged that the hospital never gave her a cost estimate in advance. She said the hospital did not explain why the bill grew so large, and it never gave her a receipt for the 750,000 rupees she had already paid.

Ms. Asha said she felt completely helpless. The hospital held the body for eight days and kept her passport as well. She then wrote a letter to the hospital’s management and contacted the Bangladesh High Commission for help. The hospital eventually waived the entire outstanding bill and handed over the body to her family on Saturday.