Dog Mauls Newborn Baby To Death After Dragging It Away From Hospital

A stray dog reportedly mauled a newborn baby to death in India after entering a private hospital.

The horrific incident shocked the residents of the northern city of Panipat. According to the police, the dog dragged the baby out of the hospital without anyone noticing.

The attack took place on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The newborn was reportedly sleeping next to his grandmother in the hospital, while his mother was on a different bed, when the dog entered the hospital room and grabbed the baby.

"The dog entered the hospital, picked up the newborn sleeping on the floor with his grandmother with his mouth and took him out," Station House Officer (SHO), Sector 13-17 police station, Inspector Vijay Kumar said, according to Mathrubhumi.

Local media reports said the child's mother, identified only as Shabnam, gave birth Monday night. Her husband, mother-in-law and aunt had decided to stay the night in the hospital with the new mother.

The family members were sleeping on the floor of the hospital, except for the new mother. The grandmother and the aunt laid the baby down next to them after the mother fed the newborn, and went to sleep, Times Now reported.

After realizing the baby was missing, the family raised an alarm, and started searching for the child. The family was shocked when they found a dog outside the hospital holding the newborn baby in its mouth. The family members somehow managed to free the baby from the canine's jaws and rushed him inside the hospital. However, the doctors declared the child dead.

The child's body, which had several dog bite marks on it, was sent for an autopsy.

In the hospital CCTV footage, the dog could be seen grabbing the baby with its mouth and running outside the hospital.

The family of the newborn questioned the hospital's security and management, blaming them for the death of the baby. It remains unclear if charges will be filed against the hospital for negligence.

Last year in the Indian city of Bhopal, a stray dog was seen carrying the body of a dead newborn infant near a government hospital. A sanitation worker at the hospital spotted the dog in the compound with something between its jaws. The worker tried to chase the dog away with a stick, following which the dog dropped the body of the newborn from its mouth. The worker alerted the hospital authorities after realizing it was a half-eaten body of a newborn.