Gonda, UP: Family members of a newborn who died shortly after birth at a government hospital have alleged that half of the infant's face was eaten by an animal.
District Magistrate has constituted an inquiry committee to probe the matter and the police have sent the body for a post-mortem examination.
According to the police, Saira Bano, wife of Siraj Ahmed, a resident of village panchayat Bachhaipur under Dhanepur police station area of the district, was admitted to the community health centre Mujehna on Saturday at around 10 pm after labour pain.
On Sunday, at around 3 am, the woman gave birth to a boy, whose breathing was very weak.
The hospital staff on duty shifted the newborn to another ward, saying that the newborn should be kept on oxygen support and the family members were asked to move out.
According to relatives, the hospital staff in the morning informed the family members that the newborn had died.
"When we saw the body of the child a part of his face was eaten by some animal," reads the police complaint.
Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjay Gupta said the woman's brother Haroon has demanded action, accusing the hospital staff on night duty of negligence. Legal action is being taken in the matter.
District Magistrate Ujjwal Kumar formed a two-member committee to investigate the matter. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Rashmi Verma has also constituted a two-member investigation team at her level and called for an immediate report.
The CMO is also included in the committee.
The district magistrate said, "This is very serious incident and strict action will be taken against the guilty after getting the matter investigated." The opposition Samajwadi Party has hit out at the state government over the incident.
"This is the shameful and horrific condition of government hospitals under Yogi rule. What do people do and where do they go?" tweeted the official handle of the party in Hindi.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)