A guard stands by at one of the prisons in South Sudan

Authorities in Western Lakes State say they have detained a Rumbek clinical officer in an attempt to protect him from an angry family whose member he was treating passed away.

According to the state Minister of Health, the doctor was administering diclofenac injection after the male patient complained of malaria and general body pain.

Three days after the injection, the 23-year-old man named Marial reportedly developed swelling on his left leg.

He was then rushed to the Rumbek Civil Hospital where he later died. But the family got angry, saying it was the diclofenac injection that caused Marial’s death.

“We took him into custody to save his life because our people may avenge, they may kill him. That is why he’s now in prison while the matter is being handled,” said Chol Osman Bol, Western Lakes State Minister of Health.

Diclofenac injection is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for management of mild to moderate pain and moderate to severe pain alone.