A horrifying incident has come to light in a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh where a body kept in the mortuary was found partially eaten by rats. The incident occurred at the Eluru Government General Hospital (GGH) in West Godavari district.
Vaikuntha Vasu from Lingapalem mandal had reportedly died in a road accident on Tuesday. His body was shifted to the mortuary at the Eluru GGH for conducting a post-mortem. But the next morning, his body was found with rat bites. Rats had eaten parts of Vasu’s body, including his eyelids.
Eluru also happens to be the constituency of Health Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Alla Kali Krishna Srinivas, commonly known as Alla Nani.
According to district health officials, the body was left on the floor of the mortuary as a working freezer was not available. Additional Medical Director Vanisri told a media outlet that the District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) and the District Coordinator of Hospital Services (DCHS) have visited the mortuary to inspect the reasons for the negligence. “We saw some small holes through which the rats might have entered. We have asked the hospital authorities to repair it immediately,” Vanisri told a reporter. She said that sometimes when the number of bodies in the mortuary is higher than expected, they are kept outside temporarily.
She added that the sanitation work was being done through a PPP (Public-Private Partnership) and that the organisation responsible for the work would be warned to avoid such incidents in the future.
This is not the first time that such an incident has occurred at the hospital.
In December 2018, a body was reportedly found rotting and unattended for days in a toilet at the Eluru GGH. When questioned about the repeated negligence, DCHS K Sankara Rao told a reporter that the reason for hiring pest control agency Eagle Hunters itself was the occurrence of a similar incident in the past. “We have sent a show-cause notice to the company and will take action against the two employees responsible for this,” he said. He added that the mortuary had four freezers in total, of which one was found not working. Further action will be taken once the inquiry report arrives, he said.