‘PM Modi, CM of Madhya Pradesh should hang their heads in shame’: Rahul on babies bitten by rats
“So horrific, inhumane and insensitive... A child has been snatched from a mother’s lap, because the govt failed to fulfil its most basic responsibility,” he said
“In Indore, two newborn babies died due to rat bites in Madhya Pradesh's largest government hospital — this is no accident, this is outright murder,” posted Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on 4 September 2025.
“This incident is so horrific, inhuman and insensitive that even hearing about it sends shivers down the spine. A child has been snatched from a mother's lap, simply because the government failed to fulfil its most basic responsibility,” he posted in Hindi on X.
The two infants who died, one today (4 September, ostensibly of septicaemia) and the other yesterday (3 September, Wednesday, ostensibly of pneumonia), were caught on camera being bitten — one on her fingers, another the head and shoulders.
Speaking to PTI, hospital superintendent Dr Ashok Yadav had said on 3 September, “In the last 48 hours, rats have bitten the fingers of a baby in the intensive care unit (ICU), while another infant suffered bites to the head and shoulder.”
A probe was duly instituted, he had announced at the time.
Deputy superintendent Dr Jitendra Verma of Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital said the newborn who died on Wednesday, had weighed only 1.60 kg and was born with a number of congenital deformities, for which she had had surgery a week ago — and that her condition had been critical due to having developed septicemia.
Per her family’s wish, the body was handed over without an autopsy, the doctor added.
But none of these ‘explanations’ as to cause of death assuaged Gandhi’s ire, as he added, “The administration, as always, says, ‘There will be an investigation’ — but the question is, when you can’t even ensure the safety of newborn children, what right do you have to run the government? PM Modi and the Chief Minister of MP should hang their heads in shame.”
Certainly, whether the children died of rat bites or other causes, in truth, the fact remains that they were bitten — and that’s certainly not the ‘standard of care’ parents are expecting when handing their newborn babies (or children or patients of any age) into the care of hospital authorities, surely.
Gandhi’s explanation for such happenstances — and many readers will recall this is the state where ‘fake cardiologists’ have managed to operate on patients within hospital premises and pretty much gotten away with it — is that the BJP leadership has been deliberately handing over the health sector “to private hands — where treatment is now only for the rich, and for the poor, government hospitals are no longer life-saving, but have become dens of death”.
“Your government has stripped millions of poor people in the country of their right to health,” he alleged, addressing the prime minister, “and now children are being snatched from mothers’ laps.”
“Modi-ji, this voice is rising on behalf of those lakhs of parents who are today victims of governmental negligence. What will be your response?” he asked, vowing that the Congress at least would not watch in silence but would amplify the concerns of every parent, family and child.