Dogs devour parts of woman’s body in Lohia hosp morgue
Channel gate of the building has enough space to allow animals like stray canines to enter the mortuary
LUCKNOW: In a bizarre incident, stray dogs mutilated and ate parts of a woman’s body kept in the morgue of the state run Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here in the wee hours of Sunday.
The incident came to light when the woman’s family members reached there on Sunday morning.
The woman, Pushpa Tiwari, 40, was admitted to the hospital on Saturday evening after she reportedly consumed some poisonous substance. Doctors pronounced her dead shortly after admitting her to the hospital. Later, her body was shifted to the hospital’s mortuary, for post mortem examination.
The deceased, a resident of Sikenderpur under Chinhat police station area of Lucknow, allegedly consumed some poisonous substance in her house after which she was brought to the hospital by her husband Vinod Tiwari.
At around 9 am when the family reached the morgue to take the body, they found her face and neck mutilated and some parts of her body were missing.
They filed a complaint with the hospital authorities after which the services of two staff members and two security supervisor were terminated.
The state government ordered an inquiry. Director, RML Hospital, Dr Devendra Negi said, “Parts of the face and neck of the body were missing. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident.”
The police found blood-soaked footprints of dogs near the channel gate of the mortuary. The body was found away from the place where it was kept on Saturday night. “It seems the dogs entered the place through the channel gate. The usual practice of keeping the body in freezer was not followed,” a policeman said. The police has lodged an FIR against the four ‘terminated’ persons on the basis of a complaint filed by Tiwari.
LUCKNOW: How did dogs enter the morgue at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and got to the body? The answer perhaps lies in the fact that the channel gate of the building has enough space to allow animals like canines to enter. The second gate that secures the freezer room too might have been left open, which allowed dogs to reach the freezer.
The hospital team probing the incident took note of these points. The panel comprised Dr Sushil Srivastava, Dr DR Jaiswal and Dr Shailesh Srivastava.
A woman, Pushpa Tiwari, 40, was admitted to the hospital on Saturday evening after she reportedly consumed some poisonous substance. Soon after, doctors pronounced her dead. Her body was later shifted to the hospital’s mortuary for postmortem examination.
However, on Sunday morning the body was found mauled. Primary investigation found the staff guilty of negligence.
Those removed from duty and named in the FIR were ward boy Islam, security guard Pawan and security supervisors Ashish and Anil.
As the woman had reportedly consumed poison, doctors felt post-mortem examination was necessary.
The body was kept in the morgue overnight and was to be examined in the morning.
“All those who will be found guilty in the investigation report will be punished,” said principal secretary (health) Prashant Trivedi, in a press statement.
“Stray dogs roam around the campus , looking for food items thrown by the attendants carelessly,” said a government doctor.
However, animal experts said there should be an investigation to find out which animal devoured the body.
They said it could be a rat. A forensic examination would reveal the DNA and hence ascertain which animal did it, they added.