Newborn Girl Mauled By Rats in Jharkhand Government Hospital, Nurses Fired

In what seems to be a shocking instance of medical apathy, a three-day-old infant was bitten by rats and is now in a critical condition in a government hospital in Giridih district of Jharkhand. The newborn girl, who was mauled by the rats, has been shifted to SN Mahto Medical College in Dhanbad. The doctors said her condition is now stable. In a damage control exercise, the district administration sacked two nurses while ordering an investigation into the matter. 

As per reports, the incident took place on May 2 at Giridih Sadar hospital. The mother, Mamta Devi, said the rats had caused deep wounds on the infant’s knee by nibbling when she went to see her newborn at the model maternal and child health (MCH) ward of the Giridih healthcare centre. 

Mamta had given birth to a baby girl on April 29 and the baby was admitted to the MCH as she had breathing trouble after birth. She said the nurse on duty had told her that the infant was infected by jaundice and advised her to admit her to a better hospital. 

“A deep wound was found on the infant's knee. A surgeon has been asked to attend to the patientury is deep,” head of the department of paediatrics at SN Mahto Medical College, Avinash Kumar said. 

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Giridih Deputy Commissioner Naman Priyesh Lakra has ordered a probe into the shocking incident. He said the services of two outsourced nursing staff of the Giridih hospital have been terminated, the sweeper of the ward, where the newborn was kept, has been removed and one Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery nurse suspended. He also added that a letter had been sent to the additional chief secretary to the Jharkhand health department for action against the doctor who was on duty in the Giridih Sadar hospital.