Rats nibble newborn’s feet in Madhya Pradesh’s govt hospital

Indore: A nurse was placed under suspension and services of two employees of a cleaning and security firm were terminated on Tuesday evening after rats nibbled the feet of a newborn in a state-run hospital in Indore, officials said.

The incident of rats gnawing at the feet of a newborn at government-run Maharaja Yeshwantrao (MY) hospitals nursery care unit for newborn babies was confirmed by the facility’s superintendent Dr Pramendra Thakur on Monday.

Meanwhile, a MY Hospital official told PTI on Tuesday that the 23-day-old baby was kept in a pram where rats nibbled its feet.

“After administering first-aid, the baby is now being treated by specialist doctors. The baby’s condition is stable now,” he said.

The newborn, a premature baby, weighed just 1.3 kg when he was born and therefore being treated in the nursery of the hospital.

Dr Thakur said a three-member committee, comprising two doctors and an administrative official, had been set up for investigation and the action on the nurse and two contract firm employees was recommended by it.

The firm has been fined Rs 1 lakh as well, he added.

Earlier in the day, taking cognisance of media reports about the incident, Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission chairman Justice Narendra Kumar Jain directed Indore’s divisional commissioner and the joint director of the health department to submit a report within the next 15 days.