HC notice to MP govt over man's plea on newborn daughter's death in rat attack at Indore hospital

Indore, Oct 14 (PTI) The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state government over a petition filed by the father of a newborn girl, who died last month following rat bites at the government-run Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital (MYH) in Indore.

Justice Pranay Verma of the high court's Indore bench issued the notice on the petition filed by Devram, a resident of neighbouring Dhar district, and sought replies within six weeks.

Apart from the state government, the superintendent of MYH, the dean of the city's Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, and the director of HLL Infra Tech Services Limited, a central government enterprise, are the other respondents.

Devram has sought a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the death of his newborn daughter and an inquiry by a retired high court judge into the rat infestation at the MYH.

The next hearing on the petition is expected on November 26.

MYH is one of the largest government hospitals in the state. It is affiliated with the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore.

MYH officials said that during the intervening night of August 31 and September 1, rats attacked Devram's daughter and another newborn girl, who were suffering from different congenital malformations, in the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU), following which they died.

The hospital administration claims that the deaths of the two newborn girls were not caused by rat bites and that they succumbed to their pre-existing serious health problems due to their different congenital malformations.

Tribal organisation Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS) has been demanding the suspension of Dr Arvind Ghanghoria, Dean of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, and Dr Ashok Yadav, Superintendent of the MYH, and also sought registration of a first information report (FIR) against them for culpable homicide, accusing them of gross negligence in duty.

According to JAYS national president Lokesh Mujalda, a preliminary investigation report by the state government said the dean and the superintendent had administratively failed to manage cleanliness at the MYH, and curb pest and rodent infestations there. PTI HWP MAS NP