Siliguri, 25th March: In a shocking incident, a dead body of a 33-year-old man was allegedly chewed upon by rats in the mortuary of the Siliguri District Hospital, on Wednesday night. The deceased identified as Papai Mallick was a resident of Birpara and used to live in Pradhan Nagar for work purpose.
The incident came to light on Thursday morning when the family of the deceased found his nose was allegedly nibbled at by rats. Papai Mallick had committed suicide on Wednesday and his body was kept in the morgue of Siliguri District Hospital for the night. Besides the injury marks, there were bloodstains on different parts of Papai’s body.
Subrata Kumar Das, the uncle of the deceased, said that the corpse of another woman was kept next to Papai’s body. Several parts of her body, too, had been eaten by rats.
On the other hand, Hospital Superintendent Pradeepta Bhattacharya expressed regret over the incident and said that the freezers installed to preserve bodies have not been functioning for a long time. Apparently, all the officials including the ADM of Darjeeling were aware of the freezer’s malfunction. Despite this, corpses were being kept in the morgue under the supervision of SDO.
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased blamed the hospital authorities for the incident. They raised questions regarding the role of the hospital authorities concerning rat infestation on the premises. The police have been notified regarding the whole matter and the family will also report the CMOH. In addition to this, they will send a written complaint to the Chief Minister.