Rat nibbles dead bodies' eyes at mortuary in MP's hospital

Rats nibbled the eyes of two dead bodies kept at the mortuary of Sagar Government Hospital in Madhya Pradesh. A show-cause notice has been issued to the civil surgeon and three doctors of the hospital following the incident.

Sagar(Madhya Pradesh):The eyes of two corpses kept in the mortuary of Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district hospital has been gnawed by rats. The incident took place at the Government Sagar District Hospital. One eye in each of two bodies kept in the hospital's mortuary may have been gnawed away by rats, officials said on Saturday.

A show-cause notice has been issued to the civil surgeon and three doctors of the hospital, officials said. This is the second time such an incident took place in the last 15 days, they said. Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Mamta Timori said, "One eye in each bodies was found missing on January 4 and January 19".

"On January 4, a dead body of a 32-year-old man was kept in the mortuary and the eye of the body was suspected to be gnawed by rats. On January 19, the eye of a 25-year-old man's dead body was also found damaged. After these incidents, show-cause notices were issued to four doctors, including the civil surgeon, on Friday for negligence while on duty," she added.

Timori said that disciplinary action will be taken after getting the reply from the civil surgeon and others. Another official said, "prima facie it seems that the eyes of the bodies were gnawed by rats but it is yet to be verified".

Earlier, a newborn girl child, undergoing treatment in the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) department, at a government hospital in the Giridih district of Jharkhand was allegedly nibbled by rats. As the incident came to light, representatives of different political parties demanded action against concerned hospital staff.

Official sources said that Mamta Devi, wife of Rajesh Singh, a resident of Asko, Jamua, was admitted to the hospital and she delivered a baby girl. As the infant was facing difficulty in breathing, she was kept in the infant ward of MCH for better treatment. Meanwhile, at around 3 am, the nurse on duty in the infant ward informed the family members that the girl had developed jaundice.

After the call, family members went to the ward to know about the health condition of the girl. The family members received the girl child wrapped in a cloth and were asked to take her to Dhanbad. As they consulted a doctor in Dhanbad, the doctor told them that the girl had been gnawed by a rat.