Newborn Baby's Foot Nibbled By Rats In Government Hospital, Family Alleges Negligence

A newborn baby's foot was found being nibbled by several rats in a government-run hospital in India.

The incident took place Sunday night in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The 18-day-old baby was in the nursery of Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital in Indore.

“It was a premature delivery and the baby was just 1.3 kg [2.8 pound] and hence was shifted to the nursery for tube feeding. The child was admitted for the last 18 days. Rats nibbled on the toe and heel of the newborn and the incident came to the fore when the baby's mother Priyanka Dam reached there to feed him,” sources told the Free Press Journal.

The child's mother alleged the nurse on duty was sleeping when the incident took place.

“We have constituted a committee to probe the incident under the supervision of Dr KK Arora. The committee includes administrative officer Samkit Jain and medical officer Dr Aparna Sharma,” superintendent of hospital Dr P.S. Thakur reportedly said.

The child's parents alleged negligence, and urged authorities to take necessary action, News18 reported.

Meanwhile, the hospital pediatricians said the baby would recover with just medicines, and added plastic surgery was not required. Hospital administration shifted the baby to the pediatrics’ ward of the hospital.

Thakur said the committee that will be investigating the incident will consist of two doctors and an administrative officer.

In a similar incident last year, a disturbing video surfaced online showing a stray dog nibbling at the dead body of a girl at a hospital in India. In the video, the canine was seen gnawing at a dead body that was left unattended on a stretcher. The incident took place in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The girl was a victim of a road accident and her body was allegedly left unattended for over an hour inside the hospital. The girl's family blamed the government hospital for negligence. "The body of the girl was left unattended for 1.5 hours. It is a matter of negligence on the hospital's part. No one was there to look after the body," the girl's father told local media at the time.