In an appalling incident at the city’s premier Osmania hospital, the body of a 21-year-old woman preserved in the morgue, was found with her nose and parts of her face missing, allegedly chewed away by rats.
Yes, you read that right and not only rats, the hospital is infested with venomous snakes as well, if hospital staff are to be believed, as per a report in Deccan Chronicle.
The hospital has a sprawling campus with many trees and wild bushes, making it a perfect breeding ground for rodents and reptiles.
A staff working at the mortuary ward told TNM, “This part of the hospital is busy with people during day, but at night, this place turns eerie. The noise of grasshoppers, bats and the fear of snakes, makes it the worst place to stay anywhere close to the ward.”
“Fearing snakes, even the security guard doesn’t stay here,” he claimed.
The person who requested anonymity said, “We have seen snakes many a time. They come looking for birds’ eggs… they climb these trees,” pointing at the huge banyan tree right opposite the morgue.
“It is really scary to be working here,” he stated.
When asked where the rats came from, he indicated an open drainage in the mortuary where the filth from the storage flows into and said, “Possibly from this or… from outside.”
Speaking about the rat menace in the ward, Dr Sudha Rani said, “The menace of rats in the mortuary is known to everyone. The Superintendent has taken some measures for preventing them.” However, she failed to disclose what exactly those measures are.
The Superintendent’s office said that all measures were in place. They claimed that the said incident took place due to the negligence of the workers, who failed to lock the storage unit properly.
Dr B Nagender, the hospital Superintendent, said that they have initiated a departmental inquiry into the incident.
On being probed further if the hospital will get a facelift, he said, “We are renovating the R&D ward for now and have received funds for it.”