A government hospital staff in Chennai has been suspended after handing over a still born baby in a cardboard carton to parents.
The baby was still born after Cyclone Michaung struck the city on December 4 causing widespread destruction and marooning several neighbourhoods for at least four days.
The Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital on Monday said that 20-year-old Sowmy delivered a preterm baby on December 6 as a still born in her house and brought her to the hospital around 5pm. A pediatrician confirmed the baby’s death, and the mother is currently under treatment.
On December 10, the baby’s body was handed over to her father Mansoor in a carton.
“This is against the rules,” the hospital said in a statement on December 11.
Tamil Nadu health minister M Subramanian directed for one staff member in the mortuary to be suspended.
The father, a daily wage worker, told the media earlier that the hospital staff had demanded a bribe of ₹2,500 for his baby to be cremated which he couldn’t afford.
He had also struggled to avail an ambulance amidst the floods to take his wife to the hospital.
{{/usCountry}}He had also struggled to avail an ambulance amidst the floods to take his wife to the hospital.
{{/usCountry}}A three-member enquiry committee has been formed to investigate the incident, the hospital said.