Family members of a youth whose body was found outside a hospital a day after he went missing from the ward where he was being treated for COVID-19 created a ruckus at the Banaras Hindu University hospital late on Monday, accusing the administration of negligence.

The family alleged that the youth was found with an incision mark near his hip and they suspect an organ may have been removed from his body. Friends and relatives of the youth staged a protest outside the hospital demanding action against the officials.

“His kidney was removed,” alleged a family member.

The youth was admitted to the hospital last week after a head injury and had subsequently been shifted to the super speciality block of the S.S Hospital, BHU, in Varanasi.

The patient had gone missing from his ward around 2 p.m. on Sunday, according to a hospital spokesperson. A search operation was launched by the staff and security personnel, and every corner of the building was scanned, said the hospital.

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The officials then searched near a pipe duct outside the hospital based on CCTV footage.

The patient’s body was recovered near the spot, said the hospital.

S. K Mathur, Medical Superintendent BHU, said it appeared that the patient tried to climb down the pipe from the second floor but it broke and he fell.

The body was sent to the mortuary.

This came hours after a 21-year-old man, who had tested positive for COVID-19, allegedly took his own life at the same hospital.

The youth, a local resident, had been diagnosed with psychosis, a type of mental illness, said the hospital, adding that he had made a similar attempt a day earlier.