Balussery (Kozhikode): The body of a man, who had been missing for the past 18 years, was found in the laboratory of a private medical college in Kollam, five months after his death. The relatives of Abdul Salim, 70, of Mundochalil in Kanthapuram, received the body after identification and conducted his last rites at the Koyilothukandi Juma Masjid. Salim reportedly died while undergoing treatment at the District Hospital in Kollam.
The body was kept in the hospital morgue for five months, and was handed over to the medical college for educational purposes after it remained unclaimed. A nurse at the government hospital had conducted Salim's final rites following Islamic tradition. His relatives in the Middle East, who read the news of the nurse conducting the final rites, identified Salim.
Salim, a Madrasa teacher, had gone missing in 2006 at the age of 52, soon after he had contested as an independent from the 11th Ward of Unnikulam panchayat. Though the police and his relatives extensively searched for the missing man, he could not be found. The Kollam police found Salim unwell in December 2023, and shifted him to the government hospital.
While Salim was undergoing treatment in the hospital, Senior Nursing Officer Surabhi Mohan's father, too, was admitted there. Both men were on adjacent beds, and Surabhi took care of Salim. However, he died after a few days. Surabhi, after learning about the hospital's decision to hand over Salim's body to the private medical college, took the initiative to conduct his last rites according to the Islamic tradition.
The incident became news and Salim's relatives in Saudi Arabia, contacted social workers in Kollam. A DNA test could not be conducted since chemicals were by then applied to the body. However, the body was released based on the descriptions his relatives had provided. The body was taken home and buried at Koyilothukandi.