ICU patient dies after rodents feast on him

January 12, 2012

rats

Jaipur, January 12: Rodents with a taste for the human flesh have struck at a Jodhpur government hospital, killing a patient admitted in the intensive care unit.

A 70-year-old paralytic patient, on ventilator at the ICU of a government hospital in Jodhpur died a gory death on Tuesday, with rats allegedly feasting on him. The incident reaffirms the sorry state of affairs at the government hospitals in Jodhpur.

The rodents nibbled on the hapless man’s ears, eye lids, nose, lips and cheeks while hospital attendants and his relatives were fast asleep. They woke up to find him dead.

Even as the hospital authorities launched an investigation into the incident, the nursing superintendent and some ICU staff have been served notices.

The victim, identified as Mohammad Iqbal, was admitted to Mathura Das Mathur Hospital around a month-and-a-half ago after he suffered a brain haemorrhage.

Relatives of the patient accused the hospital attendants of sleeping early and turning out the lights at night. “The hospital staffs go to sleep by 11 pm after switching off the lights,” the relatives said. Iqbal had injuries on his ears, nose, lips and cheeks. Besides, the ventilator tube was not spared by the rats,” they added.

According to sources, the rats entered the ICU through a hole in the wall that has been fixed now. This apart, chemicals have been sprayed to ward off rats.

“We have set up a three-member committee to look into the case. The panel has been asked to give us a report at the earliest. They started their investigations on Wednesday and we hope to have a report by Thursday,” said Arvind Mathur, the hospital superintendent, adding that the hospital has sought professional help from the Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) for curbing the rat menace. An investigation has been launched to ascertain the actual cause of death.

Not a rare incident

Patients succumbing to rodent attacks is not an alien phenomenon in Jodhpur. In 2009, an infant allegedly died after being attacked by rats at the Ummed Hospital here.

The hospital grabbed the headlines once again after 29 women died there during childbirth, due to infection and contaminated IV fluid. This apart, a newborn was taken away by a stray dog from a government hospital in Kishangarh in Ajmer district last year.

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Agencies
May 6,2020

A man posed as Superintendent of Police (SP), called up a subordinate police official and asked him to get his mobile phone repaired or face the consequences. But, his bluff was later called and the man landed in lockup.

Azamgarh SP Triveni Singh said the 23-year-old youth, Shubham Upadhyay, is the son of a farmer. He was preparing for competitive exams when his phone developed a snag on Saturday. He tried to reach out to local mechanics, but they were unavailable to fix it due to the lockdown.

Upadhyay used a free caller identification app to call up the in-charge of the Kotwali police station, K. K. Gupta, and threatened to shunt him out, if he failed to swiftly get the work done. Gupta grew suspicious and eventually caught the youth.

n his statement to the police, Shubham Upadhyay said, "On Sunday noon, I tried to breach the district borders to reach Lucknow to repair my phone, but since there was heavy police presence and barricading, I returned home. Later, I installed a free caller identification app in my handset and mentioned the name as SP Azamgarh and even uploaded a photo of the cop to appear genuine."

He first called SHO, Kotwali to get the phone repaired and was told the handset would be picked up from the SP office in an hour. Then, he called a businessman to bring his SUV and hand over his mobile to the SHO.

But when Upadhyay called the police again to suggest a separate meeting point, he raised suspicion. When the SHO tried to confirm the venue, Upadhyay got hesitant and said he would send a peon.

"I suddenly realised something was fishy and rang up the public relation officer of SP Azamgarh, who denied any such order from the SP. When the caller's number was scanned, it displayed the name of SP Azamgarh," said SHO Gupta.

A trap was laid and when the SHO reached the venue, he found one Praveen Shukla sitting in the vehicle. Police got the address of the accused from Shukla and reached Upadhyay's home in Bilariya locality and arrested him.

Upadhyay has been booked under IT Act and for threatening a public servant.

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Agencies
March 3,2020

Panipat, Mar 3: A 22-year-old man was charred to death after he came in contact with a live electricity wire while posing for a TikTok video near the Matlaudha railway station here, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday evening when Vikas, a resident of Dharamgarh village, climbed a pole over which the wire was passing and posed for the video, police said.

His three friends were standing below when the accident took place.

Vikas came in contact with the wire carrying 25,000 volts current and was burnt, police said.

Police have sent the body for a post-mortem and started investigation into the matter.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

Kota, Feb 26: At least 24 people died and four others sustained injuries as a private bus carrying a wedding party fell into a river on Kota–Dausa highway in Bundi district on Wednesday morning, police said.

The wedding party with 28 persons on board was headed to Sawai Madhopur from Kota early morning when the driver apparently lost balance of the bus while traversing a bridge near Papdi village under Lekhari police station limits, Lakheri Sub-Inspector Rajendra Kumar said.

The bus, subsequently, plunged into Mej river from the bridge that had no wall or railing, Kumar said.

Thirteen people died on the spot while 10 others succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital, he added.

The deaths include 11 men, 10 women and three children.

The injured were rushed to Lekhari government hospital from where the critically injured are being referred to a government hospital in Kota, the SI further said.

Most of the injured people were rescued with the help of locals in the village, he added.

Mej river is a tributary of the Chambal river in Rajasthan.

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