One of the two infants who were bitten by rats at the Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore died on Tuesday.
However, the hospital authorities have claimed that the death was caused by pneumonia and not the rat bite, reported The Hindu.
The infants were bitten by rats on Sunday and Monday in the neonatal intensive care unit, according to a report submitted by Ashok Yadav, medical superintendent of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, with which the Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital is linked.
The report, accessed by Scroll, also stated that nurses in the neonatal unit had noticed the rats days ago but failed to report them, as a result of which no inspection was conducted.
The hospital authorities have suspended the nurses and removed the nursing superintendent who was responsible for monitoring cleanliness.
The agency responsible for pest control and cleanliness at the hospital, The Agile Company, has been fined Rs 1 lakh and issued a show-cause notice, reported The Hindu.
Scroll contacted Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer Madhav Hasani, who refused to comment on the incident.
The infant who died was three days old and admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed with congenital birth defects in the oesophagus, trachea and rectum.
“Her parents abandoned her, and we have informed the police,” Yadav was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
In his report, Yadav said that pest control is done at the hospital every 15 days.
However, Congress MLA Umang Singhar, the leader of opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, claimed in a social media post that pest control had not been done at the hospital in the last five years.
Describing the infant’s death as a “massacre”, Singhar said: “Hospitals are meant to save lives, but BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party in Madhya Pradesh] has turned them into dens of death. Doctors and the system kept lying, while rats drank the blood of children.”
Meanwhile, Arvind Ghanghoria, dean of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, said that the rats had entered the hospital through pipes after heavy rains and waterlogging in Indore, reported The Hindu.
He added that a high-powered committee had been formed to probe the death. The company responsible for cleanliness has been directed to carry out pest control in the hospital every seven days.
The report submitted by Yadav stated that in 1984, a rodent menace forced the hospital to be entirely vacated for pest control. In 2014, frequent complaints of rats biting patients led to the Indore collector conducting an inquiry.
Public health advocacy group Jan Swasthya Abhiyan alleged to Scroll that the hospital is infamous for a lack of hygiene.
On Wednesday, the group also registered a complaint with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
“This is the oldest referral hospital which covers 16 districts of Nimad and Malwa regions of Madhya Pradesh,” read the complaint. “Most of the districts are tribal dominated districts and this hospital deals with referral cases.”
It added that the infant’s death was not “an isolated medical negligence” but a “grave violation” of child rights under the Constitution, the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Act, 2015, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
You’ve read Scroll.
Now help sustain it
Scroll is funded by readers, not corporate owners. If you believe our work matters, support our newsroom. Become a member today!
We’re not driven by clicks or corporate interests – just honest, independent reporting. Keep us going. Support Scroll today!