Cat gnaws at corpse in Kovai hospital, dean blames patients

The woman, aged around 62, was admitted to the hospital on November 16 after she was found unconscious near Mettupalayam bus stand. Police said that the woman was diagnosed to be mentally disturbed and died on Monday night.

The public, who noticed the unattended woman lying in a semi-nude condition with a cat gnawing at her ankle wounds, had informed the hospital staff on Tuesday morning. 

Apparently, the staff was yet to remove the body and infuriated by their behaviour, relatives of other patients broke into a quarrel with the management, forcing them to shift the body to the mortuary. By then, a few people had already taken a video of the cat.

Speaking to the media, Asokan said, “The cat was just licking, not biting. Also, I haven’t received any complaint about the incident,” he added. He also remarked that patient’s kin bringing cell phones to the hospital led to all the confusion. “We have decided that people will henceforth be banned from bringing phones to the hospital,” he said.

To a query on lack of hygiene in the hospital, Asokan said, “Who said we don’t maintain the premises? We have cats as pets at home. Patients won’t be affected unless the cats are infected.”

The Dean also said that the civic body has been notified time and again to check movement of stray dogs and cats around the hospital, but in vain. “Patients and their families pet the cats so that they prey upon the rats in the wards,” he added.

A fortnight ago, Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar had ordered suspension of four staff members of a private agency entrusted with the maintenance of the hospital for not maintaining cleanliness. Incidentally, CMCH was ranked the fifth best hospital in The Week- Nielson Best Hospitals survey 2018, recently.