The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on Thursday ordered the district collector in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore to conduct an investigation and submit a report regarding the deaths of two infants who were bitten by rats at the government-run Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Hospital, PTI reported.

The notice was issued based on a complaint filed by the non-governmental organisation Jan Swasthya Abhiyan Madhya Pradesh.

Amulya Nidhi, the NGO’s convener, said that the incident was a “serious violation of child rights, infection-control protocols and hospital safety standards”.

The NGO demanded an independent inquiry into the incident, and audits of infection-control and pest-management practices in neonatal and paediatric wards in state-run hospitals.

The infants were bitten by rats on Sunday and Monday in the neonatal intensive care unit, according to a report submitted by Ashok Yadav, medical superintendent of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, with which the Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital is linked.

The report, accessed by Scroll, also stated that nurses in the neonatal unit had noticed the rats days ago but failed to report them, as a result of which no inspection was conducted.

One infant was bitten on the fingers by the rats, while the other was bitten on her head and shoulder, PTI reported.

The first baby died on Tuesday, with hospital authorities citing pneumonia as the cause. The second died on Wednesday due to septicemia, according to the hospital.

On Wednesday, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that “no negligence of any kind by the government will be tolerated” and announced a high-level investigation into the matter. “A permanent solution to the problem will be implemented to ensure such incidents do not occur,” Yadav said.

The district collector had also visited the hospital and said that a third-party audit would be conducted, adding that further action would be based on its findings.

On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described the deaths as “outright murder”.

“PM Modi and the Chief Minister of MP should hang their heads in shame,” Gandhi said on X. “Your government has stripped millions of poor people in the country of their right to health – and now children are being snatched from mothers’ laps.”

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