Bangladeshi worker’s body lies unclaimed in Malaysian morgue for 15 days

Published : Sunday, 9 August, 2026 at 10:51 PM

Observer Online Report

A Bangladeshi construction worker’s body has remained in a hospital morgue in Malaysia for the past 15 days as authorities and colleagues struggle to trace his family in Bangladesh.

The deceased, identified as 'Deen Mohammad', reportedly died of a stroke in Kuala Lumpur. However, his body cannot yet be released from the morgue because no relatives have been found to receive it.

Authorities have searched for his family using the permanent address listed on his passport, with the help of local representatives and administrative officials in Bangladesh. However, they have so far been unable to locate anyone connected to him. His passport also contains incomplete emergency contact information, with only “0088” listed in the telephone number field.

According to his co-workers, Deen Mohammad had been living in Malaysia for nearly 20 years. He had started working as a construction worker at a new company just 19 days before his death.

The Bangladeshi owner of his workplace and his supervisor have been making desperate efforts to locate any of his relatives, either in Kuala Lumpur or Bangladesh, who could at least take responsibility for receiving his body.

The situation has also created financial difficulties, as the morgue charges 75 Malaysian ringgit per day for keeping the body.

Under Malaysian law, an unclaimed body cannot simply be buried immediately, as relatives may come forward later, potentially creating legal complications. If no family member is eventually found, Deen Mohammad may have to be buried as an unidentified or unclaimed person in Malaysia.

After learning about the case, the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment** have taken steps to trace his relatives. Officials from the High Commission’s Labour Wing and legal assistance team are contacting people who knew Deen Mohammad and searching his previous workplaces in an effort to establish his permanent address.

The ministry has said that if his family can be located, it will provide all necessary assistance to repatriate his body to Bangladesh.

Who was Deen Mohammad?

According to his passport, Deen Mohammad was born on March 2, 1975. His father’s name was Abdul Haque, while his mother was listed as Sukkur-er Nesa.

His permanent address was recorded as Raja Bari, Cumilla Sadar, Brahmanpara, Cumilla. The same address was listed as the emergency contact address for his father.

However, Farid Uddin, the chairman of the local area, told the media that despite conducting an extensive search after receiving information from the administration, he could not find anyone named Deen Mohammad, son of Abdul Haque, in the area.

> “I know more or less everyone in my area. There is a neighbourhood called Rajabari in my village, but I could not find anyone named Deen Mohammad whose father is Abdul Haque,” he said.

His passport, most recently renewed at the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on September 27, 2023, also contains the number of his previous passport. However, no valid telephone number is listed for emergency contact.

Some Bangladeshis living in Malaysia said that around 2011, undocumented Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia were given an opportunity to regularise their status. Many workers reportedly applied through the Bangladesh High Commission and obtained passports during that period.

Some people familiar with the case have suggested that Deen Mohammad may have obtained his first passport around that time, although the claim could not be independently verified.

His former workplace, however, said he had been living in Malaysia for nearly two decades.

Source: BBC Bangla

-HIS