Mumbai: Four days after three-month-old Prince Rajbhar died at the King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital due to the negligence of authorities, yet another shocking incident has come to light, at the same hospital.
This time, reportedly, a three-month-old aborted foetus, which was dumped in the biomedical waste room of the hospital, was devoured by a cat on Tuesday evening.
The hospital management, however, claimed to be have 'no knowledge' of the incident. But Bhoiwada Police have taken cognisance and have registered an accidental death report.
According to hospital sources, there is a biomedical waste room near Gate No. 7 of the hospital, where body parts of the deceased, severed during post mortem, are disposed of.
“On Tuesday evening, we saw a cat had picked up a package in which there was a foetus and it dragged this away to a spot under the shelf near the hospital quarters and began eating it.
We immediately informed the doctors about it, after which everyone gathered near the spot. The police were informed about the incident,” he said.
Doctors at the hospital have expressed concern, saying hospital authorities cannot be negligent in carrying out their duty. “If a cat can enter the biomedical room, then anyone else can too. This is a serious safety issue. Even after the Prince incident, there seems to be no improvement,” said a doctor.
One of the hospital employees, who works in the mortuary, said this was not the first time an animal has entered the biomedical waste room. Employees have complained to the administration about the matter but no steps have been taken.
“Body parts of the dead and other clinical equipment are dumped here and it has to be cleared every week but it has been more than two months since the room was last cleared. Drawn by the strong odour, cats enter it, hoping to find something to eat,” he said.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Joshi said a notice has been sent to the waste collection agency for not doing their work.
