Madhya Pradesh: Dogs eat up patient in govt hospital

Bhopal: In yet another instance of healthcare horror in Madhya Pradesh, dogs have eaten up the body of a 70-year-old woman who went missing from a government hospital in Rajgarh on March 22. This is the fifth such incident in the state in less than 10 months, and the second this year.

Some sanitation workers chanced upon the grisly remains when they went looking for the source of the stench that had been troubling patients and doctors for the past few days. “Only her head and some upper body parts are left. The rest has been eaten up by animals,” said Kotwali police station in-charge Mukesh Gaur on Sunday. It is not yet known if she was alive when attacked by the animals. There were signs of the body being dragged five to seven feet through the undergrowth.

What adds to the horror is that hospital authorities were apparently unaware Bishmillah Bai was missing until they found what was left of her in the backyard of the campus on Sunday. An official described it as the most horrifying scene he had ever seen. “It was just a head and half the torso. Even that had been chewed up. It was gruesome. There wasn’t much left for a post-mortem,” he said, adding that she was identified from her purse and scraps of her sari and sweater.

Bishmillah’s grandson Md Nameem, 25, said she lived in Guna district’s Kumbhraj village. “She came with us to Rajgarh on Urs and refused to go back, saying she wanted to stay here for a couple of days. When she didn’t return home, we came back to look for her. We were searching for her even today when we got the call from police,” he told TOI.

Whatever was left of her bundled up in a small potli and handed to the family for last rites. The administration has ordered a probe by the subdivisional magistrate into the incident.

Police say Bismillah was found lying on a road, unwell, on March 20. “She was immediately taken to the district hospital with the help of 108 Ambulance service. Hospital officials say that she was missing from March 22, but we were not informed. Today, her body parts were found on the hospital premises,” Gaur said. Bismillah was given bed No. 11 in the women’s ward. She may have wandered out at night and been attacked by hungry dogs, say sources. Police point out that the hospital officials should have been more vigilant.

“How did she end up in the backyard of the ward where she was admitted? Why wasn’t any information given to police after she went missing? And what did the authorities do to trace her? These are some of the aspects we are investigating,” said Gaur.

When a patient goes missing it is noted in the register and reported to the resident medical officer but not police, civil surgeon of the hospital S Jadu told TOI. “She was admitted on March 20 and went missing on March 22. Today her remains were found,” he said. However, sources said that when a patient is admitted by police, it is imperative for the hospital to inform the cops if he/she goes missing.


Hospital Horror

Jan 7, 2017: Dogs mutilate a newborn’s body behind district hospital in Shahdol

Dec 22, 2016: Rats eat up the eyes of a corpse in Hamidia Hosptial in Bhopal

Aug 1, 2016: Dogs carry away a stillborn baby from Satna district hospital

June 18, 2016: Dog snatch stillborn foetus from MY Hospital in Indore

Jan 3, 2016: Rat nibble the body of a woman in morgue of Kasturba Hospital in Bhopal