Vijayawada: A four-day-old baby boy died under mysterious circumstances at the old government hospital here on Monday. There were injury marks on the baby’s body and family members said that the infant had died of ant bites.
There was tension in the area as relatives and leaders of political parties staged a protest, alleging negligence of hospital staff as the reason behind the baby’s death. According to reports, Lakshmi, wife of autorickshaw driver Anjaiah, a native of Penumaka village of Guntur district, had given birth to the baby in the old government hospital four days ago.
On Monday morning, Ms Lakshmi found the baby dead. She also observed injury marks on the infant’s body. Though the hospital staff put the baby on incubator, he did not respond.
Minister orders inquiry
A four-day-old baby boy died under mysterious circumstances at the old government hospital here on Monday. As per relatives, a saline bottle that was hanging on a stand had fallen on the infant, injuring him. There were also other marks like rashes on the body, like ant bites.
The hospital staff, however, denied the allegations. The body was shifted to the mortuary for post-mortem. Health minister Kamineni Srinivas has ordered an inquiry into the incident. The minister, who is on a London tour, also phoned hospital staff and asked about the incident.
Collector A. Babu and sub-collector Srujana inspected the hospital and met the parents of the infant. The government has ordered an inquiry and the sub collector has been appointed as the inquiring officer.
The collector said that there was no negligence on part of the hospital staff as per preliminary information and the post-mortem report would reveal the facts. Local MLA Gadde Rammohan visited the government hospital and consoled the family of the infant. YSRC leaders K. Pardhasarathy and P. Goutam Reddy visited the hospital and staged a protest.
