In Gorakhpur, rats nibble at dead body kept in district hospital mortuary

Gorakhpur: On Wednesday morning, Sumit’s relatives discovered that his face was covered with multiple bite marks when they arrived at the mortuary to claim his body.

An insensitive attitude of district health officials was witnessed here on Wednesday when the nose of a dead body was allegedly found nibbled by a rat.

Gorakhpur: Officials said the mortuary has a deep freezer for keeping dead bodies. However, relatives of the deceased claimed that the body was not kept properly. (FOR REPRESENTATION PURPOSE)

According to reports, half a dozen youths from village Bargo under Ramgarh police station of the district had gone to arrange a pumping set to discharge water from the venue where the idol of Goddess Durga was to be placed. Unfortunately, the pickup overturned near Jagdishpur village in the late evening on Tuesday and everyone on board sustained injuries.

Later that night, they were taken to the district hospital. Two injured including Sumit Gaur (21) and Mahboob Siddique (20) were declared dead and their bodies were kept at the hospital morgue overnight. All others who sustained injuries were sent back after emergency treatment, sources said.

When the relatives of Sumit arrived at the mortuary to claim his body on Wednesday morning, they found it covered in multiple bite marks on his face. The rats had nibbled the nose of the dead body, they alleged.

Officials said the mortuary has a deep freezer for keeping dead bodies. However, relatives of the deceased claimed that the body was not kept properly.

The relatives of the deceased who had reached the mortuary for claiming the body created a ruckus at the office of the chief medical officer (CMO). Following their complaint, CMO Dr Ashutosh Dubey constituted a two-member enquiry committee headed by assistant chief medical officer (ACMO) Dr A K Choudhary to look into the matter. Abdur Rahman