New Delhi, Oct. 25 -- A Japanese man spent most of his life in poverty before discovering that he had been switched at birth. The mix-up happened at Tokyo's San-ikukai Hospital. The truth came out nearly 60 years later. The rich family's younger sons grew suspicious of their elder brother's behaviour.

They noticed he didn't look like them. They also recalled their late mother mentioning a nurse who had changed his clothes after a bath in the hospital.

In 2009, they collected a cigarette butt from their elder brother and sent it for DNA testing. The results revealed that the man was not biologically related to them, the South China Morning Post reported.

The case shocked Japan. It reignited public discussion about hospital negligence an...