Rahul Gandhi Calls Infants’ Deaths in Hospital ‘Outright Murder’ After Rat Bites
Two newborns die in NICU, sparking outrage and calls for accountability.
Bhopal: The death of two infants bitten by rodents in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the pediatric ward of the government-run M Y Hospital in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, has sparked widespread outrage, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi terming it a ‘horrific tragedy’.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Gandhi, on Thursday took to the social media platform X to slam Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Madhya Pradesh government for the ‘negligence’ leading to the horrific incident.
“They should hang their heads in shame”, Mr. Gandhi said in an X post.
“In Indore, two newborn babies died due to rat bites in Madhya Pradesh’s largest government hospital (M Y Hospital). This is no accident, this is outright murder”, he said.
“This incident is so horrific, inhuman, and insensitive that even hearing about it sends shivers down the spine”, he added.
He said that a child has been snatched from a mother’s lap, simply because the government failed to fulfil its most basic responsibility.
“The health sector has been deliberately handed over to private hands, where treatment is now only for the rich. For the poor, government hospitals are no longer life-saving, but have become dens of death”, he said.
He said ‘The administration, as always, says- There will be an investigation. But the question is when you can’t even ensure the safety of newborn children, what right do you have to run the government?’
In another development, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sought a report from the Indore district collector on the incident.
In a letter to the Indore district collector, the NCPCR said that the commission has taken cognizance of the matter.
The commission directed the Indore district collector to submit an action taken report (ATR) on the incident within three days.
The commission’s directive was in response to a complaint on the incident by the Indore-based non-government organization (NGP), Jan Swasthya Abhiyan.
Two newborn babies admitted in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the pediatric ward of M Y Hospital were bitten by rats.
While one of them died on Tuesday, the other child died on Wednesday.
Doctors, however, claimed that the two infants died of other reasons like cognitive issues.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav said that he has already ordered action on the matter.
Any kind of lapses will not be tolerated, he said.
