Police arrest hospital workers for alleged corpse mutilation

The police in Osun State have arrested a doctor and other workers of Tinu-Ola Clinic and Maternity Centre on Bishop Street, Osogbo, following alleged mutilation of the corpse of a 60-year-old woman, who died in the clinic.

Our correspondent gathered on Thursday that the woman, identified as Iya Waliat, was taken to the hospital by her neighbours on Wednesday after she complained of an illness.

A young boy was said to have been left behind to run errands for the woman at the hospital. After some hours, the boy was said to have gone to a nearby house to use the toilet.

He was allegedly prevented from entering into the hospital when he returned from the toilet and was told that the woman had died.

Residents living near the hospital said the boy was also not allowed to see the corpse of the woman, and he went home to inform others.

The hospital workers reportedly prevented those who came from seeing the corpse. They allegedly told them to come back to collect the corpse very early on Thursday.

Family members of the deceased were said to have expressed shock when they saw the corpse of the woman on Thursday and discovered that some parts of her body were missing.

The main door to the hospital was locked with a padlock when our correspondent visited the place, but some persons were seen in front of the hospital.

One of them, who identified herself as a daughter of the deceased, Waliat Raji, told PUNCH Metro that the corpse was still inside the clinic, saying she and others decided to stay to ensure that nothing happened to the remains of her mother again.

She said, “Part of her lower lip was cut off. The tip of the nose is missing and somewhere close to her eye was mutilated.

“They wanted us to collect her corpse very early in the morning because they knew it would be difficult to prove that they cut some parts of her body after we might have taken her home.

“But some parts – lower lip, the tip of the nose and the eye region – have been tampered with. We want the police to unravel those who cut them and what they wanted to use them for.”

Efforts to speak to any of the workers of the hospital were abortive because there was no official at the hospital when our correspondent visited.

When a call was put across to a telephone number on the signpost of the hospital, a female voice who picked the call said she was not the current proprietor of the hospital.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, did not pick her calls. She had also yet to respond to a text message sent to her.

However, a policeman, who pleaded not to be named, told our correspondent at the Dugbe Police Station, where the case was reported, that the case had been transferred to the police command headquarters for investigation.

A police source at the police headquarters, Osogbo, told our correspondent that the case was being investigated by the State Department of Criminal Investigation.

He said, “The case was brought here. It was taken to the SDCI and I heard the officers there are preparing to go and remove the corpse.

“The doctor and other hospital workers have been picked up for interrogation, while the complainants have been invited.”