The mystery of Alaa Wali Al-Din's body... the possible reasons for not decomposing it for 19 years

The statements of the late artist’s brother, Alaa Wali Al-Din, that his brother’s body did not decompose despite the passage of 19 years since his burial, sparked a state of controversy and the statements raised a mystery that puzzled many, and a doctor said that there is more than one factor preventing the decomposition of the body even after years of death, and it depends on Place and conditions of burial.

The Egyptian newspaper “Al-Watan” quoted Dr. Samar Abdel-Azim, assistant professor in the Department of Forensic Psychiatry, and director of a research unit at Ain Shams University, as saying that not all bodies go through the stages of rotting and decomposition, as some of them undergo changes as the burial place was excessively wet, What causes the so-called “saponification” of the body, which is that the fat in the body turns into a soap-like substance that maintains the shape of the body and remains the same even after years of death.

She added, "There is a dead body we have in the Forensic Medicine Museum at Ain Shams University, plastered with a grocery store for 50 years."

She pointed out that some bodies contain certain enzymes that interact with moisture and fats and turn into a soap-like substance that preserves it and prevents it from decomposing, pointing out that this happens in the event of any defect in the humidity of the burial place.

She added that there is another factor that prevents the body from decomposing, which is the desert climate. In the case of low air humidity and high temperature, the body turns into a mummy-like shape, because the climate around it draws body fluids, and makes it unable to rot.

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