Rats gnaw at corpse in Haridwar hospital’s mortuary 

A corpse kept in the mortuary of the Haridwar district hospital was allegedly found gnawed by rats, officials said on Saturday.

The family members claimed that despite being kept in the hospital’s deep freezer, the corpse’s organs were found gnawed. One of the family members claimed that the deep freezer has a large hole, and rats entered through it and nibbled on the corpse.

Admitting the incident, the hospital’s Assistant Superintendent, Ranveer Kumar, said that the gates of "two or three deep freezers" in the mortuary are damaged, and this unfortunate incident occurred due to the negligence of the agency responsible for their repair.

He added that action will be taken against the agency.

According to the family members, Lakhan Kumar (36), a resident of Haridwar, died of cardiac arrest on Friday. He was the manager of a local dharmshala (guesthouse) here.

They said that Lakhan’s body was kept in the district hospital’s mortuary.

The family members said that later they found deep wounds to the corpse’s eyes, nose, ears, navel, and head.

They also claimed that most of the freezers in the mortuary are in a dilapidated condition.