The Rajasthan government has paid compensation to the families of two persons in two cases of rat bite in different government hospitals in 2012. The compensation was paid on the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The first case relates to the government-run Amrit Kaur Hospital in Bewar. The Commission found that the body of Janta Devi (who died in the hospital due to drug reaction on January 11, 2012) was not kept in the deep freezer by the hospital authorities. Instead, after post-mortem, it was left on the autopsy table, where rats bit parts of her right ear and left eye. One staff member was sacked for the lapse while disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the others.
Justice D. Murugesan, Member, NHRC, took this as a serious violation of human dignity of the deceased and infringement of the human rights of the relatives. He recommended that the government pay Rs.1 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased. The State government paid the amount to Beer Ram Singh, husband of Janta Devi.
Rats in ICU too In the second case, rats had bitten the face of a 70-year-old patient on the night of January 10, 2012, in the Intensive Care Unit of the Mathura Das Mathur Government Hospital, Jodhpur, which caused excessive bleeding. The Commission observed that the lack of adequate care of the patient resulted in violation of his human rights for which the State was liable. Having received no reply to its show cause notice, Justice Murugesan assumed that the State had no views on the issue and recommended a relief of Rs. 50,000 to be paid to Iqbal Mohammad, the victim. The money was paid to Shahjahan, wife of Iqbal Mohammad, who is no more.
