An Egyptian woman believed to have been the world’s heaviest is to be moved to the UAE after a row over her weight loss at the Indian hospital she was being treated at.

Mumbai’s Saifee hospital said Eman Abd El Aty had weight loss surgery and was free to go as she now weighed 172kg (380lbs), down from an estimated 500kg.

But her sister accused doctors of lying and pleaded for her to stay.

She will now go to Burjeel hospital in Abu Dhabi.

A statement released by Ms Abd El Aty’s doctors said she would receive “secondary physiotherapy” there as the hospital is “closer to home for Eman and her family”.

Saifee hospital added that it was proud of the efforts of its team of doctors, stating that “she came on a chartered cargo plane and goes back as a passenger on a flight in business class”.

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Earlier, the hospital had angrily rejected the allegations by Ms Abd El Aty’s sister Shaimaa Selim, who released a short video on social media alleging that her sister was still unable to speak or move and had not lost as much weight as the hospital was claiming.

Obesity surgeon Dr Muffi Lakdawala also strongly denied the allegations in a tweet.

On Tuesday Ms Selim told the BBC that her sister still had to wear an oxygen mask most of the time and be fed via a tube running through her nose to her stomach.

She said she feared that it would be impossible for her sister to get treatment if she needed it once back in Egypt and wanted her to stay in hospital in India for a longer period of time.

Eman suffered a stroke at the age of 11 and her weight meant she was unable to leave her home for 25 years.

She was flown in a special aircraft in January to Mumbai’s Saifee hospital where she underwent bariatric surgery in March by a team of doctors, led by Dr Lakdawala.

The hospital says she can now fit into a wheelchair and sit up for longer periods of time. It released new pictures of Ms Abd El Aty following weight reduction surgery.

What is bariatric surgery?

Bariatric surgery, also known as weight loss surgery, is used as a last resort to treat people who are dangerously obese and carrying an excessive amount of body fat.

The two most common types of weight loss surgery are:

• Gastric band, where a band is used to reduce the size of the stomach so a smaller amount of food is required to make someone feel full

• Gastric bypass, where the digestive system is re-routed past most of the stomach so less food is digested to make someone feel full