The rat ran up the 8-year-old boy's shorts and bit him close to his groin.
In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old boy was bitten by a rat while he was enjoying a meal with his parents at a McDonald's restaurant in Hyderabad. The incident was captured on CCTV installed at the eatery.
Savio Henriques, the boy's father, shared the video on Twitter and also lodged an FIR against the McDonald's outlet in question. He further described the rat as the size of a "small puppy". He claimed that he, his wife and their son were eating at the fast-food restaurant when the rat emerged from the restroom and jumped directly towards his son Dwayne Henriques.
In the footage, a rat attempts to hide under the table where the family was seated. Furthermore, it ran up the 8-year-old boy's shorts and bit him close to his groin. The father then pulled his son close to him, grabbed the rodent from outside his shorts and threw it out. The boy was rushed to a hospital, where he received shots for his injuries.
"On investigating, complainant son's groin area there were two visible flesh wounds with drop of blood oozing from it. Seeing that complainant immediately rushed to the nearest military medical inspection room (Bowenpally) where his son was inspected by a nurse and the doctor administered him with a tetanus injection and anti-rabies injection as a precaution with 2 more injections to be administered in a span of a few days," read a portion of the FIR.
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The father has accused the restaurant workers of being negligent since they didn't do much when the tragedy occurred. According to the police, an investigation is ongoing after a case was filed against the management of the restaurant under section 269 of the Indian Criminal Code (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life).
McDonald's responded to the tweet and said, "Hi! Thank you for bringing this to our notice. Please DM us your contact number so that we can assist you further."
The Assistant Food Controller of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation also took notice of the same and said, "The Concerned Food Safety Officer inspected the premises and a report has been submitted for further action".
McDonald's India West and South later issued a statement saying, "We at McDonald's India take pride in always maintaining the highest levels of QSC (quality, service, and cleanliness) across all our restaurants. We are aware of the issue that is being reported. The incident was very surprising for our crew at the restaurant, as it was for the customers. The crew immediately sprung into action to manage the situation. The Food Safety officers too found in their audit, that we are maintaining the required standards in the restaurant. All our restaurants periodically go through Pest Control and are certified pest free including the restaurant in question. At McDonald's India, customers' safety and wellbeing are our utmost priority and we are committed to providing safe, hygienic and quality food always."