Just weeks after Madhya Pradesh became a grim symbol of state failure with the deaths of more than 20 children due to poisoned cough syrup, another chilling incident has surfaced, this time from inside a government hospital itself.
In Parasia town of Chhindwara district, a newborn baby girl was found dead inside the commode of a toilet at the Civil Hospital on late Monday night, when a female sanitation worker noticed a blocked flush while cleaning the toilet. What she found instead was not a plumbing problem but a tiny hand trapped inside the commode.
Hospital staff was alerted, and after prolonged efforts, the commode had to be broken to retrieve the newborn's body. By then, it was too late.
"On checking the commode, she found the hand of the newborn baby stuck inside. Immediately the other staff of the hospital were called to the toilet. After long efforts and breaking the concerned commode, the newborn's body could be extricated," a senior official of the state health department in Parasia told NDTV.
Police were informed immediately, and the body was sent for postmortem. According to sources familiar with the autopsy findings, the newborn died due to pulmonary edema, fluid accumulation in the lungs suggesting suffocation. The silence from local police since then has only deepened the unease around the case.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that at least 15 pregnant women visited the hospital for antenatal check-ups on Monday.
Fourteen have been traced. One woman, however, remains unaccounted for, with incomplete details.
Investigators believe she may have delivered the baby inside the toilet and attempted to destroy evidence by flushing the newborn. Police are now scanning footage from all 26 CCTV cameras installed in the hospital.
Parasia is the same region that made national headlines in September and October after over 20 children died due to toxic cough syrup, triggering acute kidney failure. That tragedy exposed glaring lapses in drug regulation, oversight, and accountability.
