High Court seeks report on infant deaths due to rat bite at Indore hospital

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the state government over the deaths of two newborns at Maharaja Yashwantrao (MY) Hospital in Indore, allegedly due to rat bites, and issued a notice seeking a status report into the incident by September 15. Also, the contract of the agency responsible for the upkeep of the hospital has been scrapped, while senior hospital officials have also faced action.

Two newborns were bitten by rats at MY hospital on the intervening night of August 30–31. One suffered injury to the hand and the other in the shoulder. Both succumbed.

Calling the incident a failure of public health duty, the high court pointed to a lapse of more than two weeks without adequate action.

Taking note of the incident, the bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice JK Pillai said the case involves fundamental rights of infants and broader concerns about hospital hygiene.

According to information placed before the court, no firm punitive steps have been taken against Agile Security, the private company responsible for cleaning and rodent control at the state-run hospital, whose alleged negligence is central to the tragedy.

In response, the public health secretary has ordered removal of the Agile contract.

Meanwhile, Dr Brijesh Lahoti, Head of the Paediatric Surgery Department at MY Hospital, has been removed from his post. Also, Dr Manoj Joshi, acting head, has been suspended.

Before them, hospital superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav reportedly left on medical leave from September 11 to 25 after the case came to light earlier this month.

The court has sought detailed answers, asking as to what actions have been taken so far, who is responsible, and what is the current status.

Earlier, the hospital had claimed the deaths were due to serious illness, congenital complications, and underdevelopment of organs, and denied a rat-bite as the cause.

Initially, officials, including the then Collector Ashish Singh and Medical Education Commissioner Tarun Rathi, were told by hospital management that post-mortem reports did not show rat bites. These claims came under scrutiny.

The incident also created ground for a political blame-game as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the incident as an “outright murder”, accusing the Centre and MP government of negligence and poor oversight in government hospitals.

Meanwhile, the hospital management has largely maintained silence since the court’s intervention, and no senior officer—including the Dean—has offered comments.

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