Siliguri, July 18 (Siliguri Chronicle) – Stray dogs were seen eating the flesh of an unidentified human body in a corridor of North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH) on Thursday morning.
Shocking visuals of the incident quickly went viral on social media, once again highlighting serious lapses in security and sanitation at the region’s largest government hospital.
Sources at the hospital said the body was found in a corridor near the oncology department. The man was reportedly homeless and had been sleeping there.
“He is suspected to have died during the night from an undiagnosed illness. On Thursday around 9am, some sweepers were the first to spot the mutilated body, with a portion of the man’s leg missing,” said a source. “Dogs were seen tearing at the corpse before the staff managed to drive them away. The body was later removed to the morgue.”
Sanjay Mallick, medical superintendent and vice-principal of NBMCH, confirmed the incident and acknowledged the issue of stray dogs and homeless individuals staying on the hospital premises.
“The campus has long been struggling with the issue of stray dogs. We have repeatedly informed the state animal resources development department to take steps, but no effective solution has been found so far. Around 150 dogs roam around the campus,” he said.
“During night hours, while being on duty, even our employees avoid certain zones out of fear of dog attacks. Many of our faculty members and staff have been bitten,” he added.
Mallick said the deceased was not a patient and that the hospital had no records of him.
“It seems the man was among the homeless who spend nights in the hospital corridors. We are investigating the matter. We are also waiting for his post-mortem report to know the cause of his death,” he said.
Sources said this was not the first time such an incident had occurred at NBMCH.
“In May 2022, a stray dog was seen carrying a severed human body part within the premises, sparking similar public outrage then. Despite repeated appeals, the problem of animal menace and poor security at the medical college remains unaddressed,” a source said.
Raising this issue, Darjeeling MP and BJP’s national spokesperson Raju Bista blamed the Trinamool government for the “collapse of public healthcare in north Bengal”.
“There is no dignity for the living or the dead under Mamata Banerjee’s rule. The fact that a man’s body was left unattended and mutilated by dogs shows the absolute apathy of this administration,” Bista said in a statement.
“The chief minister is the most incompetent health minister this state has ever seen,” the MP added.
Vedabrata Dutta, Trinamool spokesperson in Darjeeling (plains) said: “Truly it is an unfortunate incident, but the BJP MP is trying to make politics out of it. This is unacceptable. In Bengal, most people are dependent on government healthcare, unlike in the BJP-ruled states.”
