Ants on dead patient's eyes, 5 hospital staff suspended

Ants were found crawling on the eyes of a dead patient at a state-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri district, prompting the government to suspend a civil surgeon, another doctor and three nurses.

Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday expressed shock and anger over the incident, which came to light after some photos purportedly showing ants in the eyes of the deceased, Balchandra Lodhi (50), went viral on social media.

The civil surgeon and four others have been suspended in this connection, state Health Minister Tulsi Silawat said.

"Chief Minister Kamal Nath and senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia expressed anger over the incident. I directed the officials concerned to suspend those responsible for the incident. This is serious negligence," Silawat said.

Shivpuri's chief medical and health officer Dr A L Sharma told PTI that after the initial inquiry, the civil surgeon, PK Khare, duty doctor Dinesh Rajput and three nurses have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty.

According to the deceased's wife Ramshri Lodhi, her husband was admitted to the Shivpuri district hospital for a stomach-related ailment on October 11.

She had gone home to care of their children on Monday evening when her husband died.

Lodhi's wife said she was informed about his death at 10 am on Tuesday, and when she reached the hospital, she found ants crawling on her dead husband's eyes.

According to some eyewitnesses, none of the deceased's family members was present when he breathed his last.

Moreover, the body was also lying on a bed in the hospital's medical ward even after death. Later, the hospital staff handed over the body to the woman and told her to go, they said.

After the patient's picture with ants surrounding the eyes went viral on social media, Kamal Nath took to Twitter to express shock over the incident.

"The ants on the body after the death of a patient in the district hospital at Shivpuri show insensitivity and carelessness. Such incidents are shameful and against humanity, it cannot be tolerated. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Strict action would be taken against those found guilty," Nath tweeted.

Earlier in the morning, Scindia also expressed anger, saying such incidents were not acceptable in civil society.

(With PTI inputs)