A month-old infant, who was sleeping next to his mother at a government hospital in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district, was taken away by a stray dog and mauled to death in the early hours of Tuesday, in yet another distressing incident that raised questions about the role of civic bodies in preventing the recurrence of such attacks.
Last week, a four-year-old boy was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs in Hyderabad. In October, a seven-month old baby died after he was mauled by a stray in a posh gated colony in Noida.
Also read: Telangana high court pulls up Hyderabad civic body after stray dogs maul 4-year-old to death
In Rajasthan, Sirohi district collector on Tuesday ordered a probe into the incident and sought a report by Wednesday afternoon. Hospital authorities have also initiated an investigation.
Police said CCTV footage of the hospital showed two stray dogs entering the TB ward of the hospital on Monday night and one of them returning with the infant minutes later.
The infant’s body with several injuries was later found outside another ward of the hospital.
Station house officer (SHO) of Kotwali police station, Sitarama, said the infant’s father, Mahendra Meena, was admitted in the hospital and was undergoing treatment for silicosis. The infant’s mother, Rekha, had dozed off at the premises with her three children.
“At around 1-2am, I saw my baby wasn’t there. I had latched the gate of the ward and don’t know who opened it. I was sleeping next to my husband. When I went looking for my baby, I saw some dogs fighting around his body,” Rekha said.
SHO Sitarama said the hospital staff was not present in the ward where the deceased’s father was admitted at the time of the incident. “A post-mortem has been conducted. A case will be registered after further investigation,” Sitarama said.
District collector Bhanwar Lal said a probe has been ordered by a team led by chief executive officer, Zila Parishad. “The report will be submitted by Wednesday afternoon and action will be taken against the responsible,” Lal said.
Virendra, acting principal medical officer (PMO), Sirohi district hospital, said: “The patient’s attendant was sleeping and the hospital guard was in some other ward. I have not seen the CCTV footage (of the incident). I will be able to comment only after the investigation.”
Meanwhile, the infant’s father accused hospital authorities and police of making his wife sign blank papers and perform the last rites of his child without informing him.
Also read: 13-yr-old hurt in stray dog attack, 5th such case in Srishti Apartments in 2 months
“Today, the hospital authorities and police took the signature of my wife on blank papers and got the last rites of my son done without informing me. I could not even see my son’s face,” he said.
The incident triggered a political row as the opposition BJP hit out at the ruling Congress over the healthcare system in the state.
“It is a complete failure of the hospital administration. Stray dogs are roaming inside the hospital whereas the chief minister and local MLA are claiming that they have changed the face of healthcare facilities in the state,” BJP district chief Narayan Purohit said.
Hitting back, Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi said: “Action against those responsible will be taken. The collector has ordered an investigation and necessary action will be taken. There is no need to politicise the issue,” Chaturvedi said.
(With PTI inputs)