An Egyptian believed to have been the world's heaviest woman before her surgery was hospitalised in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to continue treatment after a drastic weight-loss operation in India, AFP reported Thursday.

Eman Ahmed Abdel-Ati weighed some 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) before surgery in Mumbai in March that saw her shed around a fifth of her weight.

With her weight standing at 176.6 kilograms, Abdel-Ati will now begin a year-long course of physiotherapy at VPS Burjeel hospital in Abu Dhabi, her doctors in Mumbai said.

"We have arranged for a hydraulic stretcher from Italy for Eman's journey and she will have doctors, paramedics and nurses with her during the journey," Sanet Meyer, director of medevac at VPS Burjeel, told AFP ahead of the trip.

Indian treatment

Her sister has accused doctors in India of lying and jeopardising her sister’s life, an allegation the hospital has denied.

In February, Abdel-Ati made headlines all over the world when she was flown to Saifee Hospital in Mumbai to undergo weight loss surgery.

On 21 April, Saifee Hospital announced that Abdel-Ati lost 250kg two months after undergoing the surgery.

However, Selim, who was accompanying her sister in India, has accused the hospital and the doctor in charge of treating her sister, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, of lying.

Shaimaa Selim published a video on her Facebook account accusing Indian doctors treating her sister of being “liars” and looking for publicity.

Selim asserted that Abdel-Ati has only lost 50kg and has suffered a stroke, which Dr Lakdawala has denied.

The health committee in Egypt’s House of Representatives has called on the Egyptian foreign ministry to follow up on the case in Mumbai and keep the committee informed on the situation.

On Tuesday, Egypt’s general consul in Mumbai met with Selim and Dr Lakdawala.

Dr Lakdawala and Saifee Hospital have denied Selim’s allegations in statements to Asian News International (ANI), saying that Eman is doing well and that her sister “was creating a scene because she did not want to take her sister back to Egypt due to financial reasons.”

Abdel-Ati had not left her home in Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Alexandria for two decades until her arrival in India, according to AFP.

Her family told doctors that she was diagnosed as a child with elephantiasis, leaving her almost immobile.