10 day old baby dies after being eaten by rats in an Indian hospital

A 10-day-old baby boy died after being eaten by rats in an Indian hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit. Parents of the deceased child said the rats chewed their sick child’s left eye, face, chest and hands after climbing into his incubator.

The distraught mother Chavali Lakshmi (pictured above), accused doctors of ignoring her pleas to keep rats out of the ward and failing to treat her child when he was found covered in blood. She said that days earlier, her son’s toes were bitten by the rats but medics did nothing to stop it happening again.

The mum said: “My son was not killed by the rats. He was killed by the doctors and staff at the government general hospital.”

The child's father said: “We suspected the danger a week ago and requested the staff to save our son. They were not bothered as they did not take our word seriously.”

He alleged that the doctors told them not to worry too much about his death as they have another son aged two. The case has caused outrage in India with protests at the clinic in the city of Guntur.

Meanwhile India's Health minister has ordered an urgent probe and three hospital staff have been suspended.