A reported rat-gnawing incident involving the body of an elderly woman at Maniktala ESI Hospital in Kolkata has prompted the hospital authorities to form a 10-member inquiry committee, with instructions to submit its report within three days.
The woman, identified as Alpana Dey of Andul in Howrah, had been admitted to the hospital’s female surgical ward after her health deteriorated on Thursday, according to a report by Sangbad Pratidin. Her family said they reached the hospital on Friday and learned that she had died, alleging that the hospital had not informed them earlier.
When the family removed the covering from the body, they reportedly found injuries across the face and hands. The family alleged that the woman’s body had been gnawed by rats, claiming that parts of an eyelid, a portion of the lips and some fingers were missing. The report said the family informed the hospital authorities after seeing the injuries.
The hospital authorities reportedly told the family that the body may have been gnawed by rats. The wording leaves the precise cause of the injuries to be established through the inquiry. The hospital has now constituted a 10-member committee to examine the circumstances and submit its findings within three days.
Dey had reportedly been suffering from kidney-related illness for nearly six years. The available report does not provide further details about the treatment she received, the time of her death, the condition of the body before it was handed over to the family, or whether any post-mortem examination was ordered.
The incident has also brought renewed attention to complaints about conditions at the hospital. The report said patients and their families had previously raised concerns about cleanliness in areas where patients stay and alleged irregularities in the distribution of food. It also referred to complaints of alleged misbehaviour by some hospital employees and doctors. These allegations were included as part of the wider concerns reported around the facility; the report did not provide an independent assessment of them.
Maniktala ESI Hospital caters to a large number of patients and also accommodates admitted patients, according to the report. The committee’s inquiry is expected to establish how the injuries occurred, whether pest-control and body-handling protocols were followed, when the family was informed about the death, and whether any staff or institutional lapse contributed to the incident. The next formal step is the submission of the committee’s report within three days.
