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As the family of a man who died of a bullet injury while undergoing treatment in a Patna hospital was grieving, another shock awaited them - his left eye went missing hours after his death. While the family has alleged that the eye was taken out by doctors as part of a "business", the hospital administration has pinned the blame on rats.
The man, Fantus Kumar, was admitted to Patna's second-largest hospital, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), on Thursday after being shot in his abdomen in Nalanda. Kumar was admitted to the ICU but was declared dead at 8:55 pm on Friday. The family was with him in the hospital till 1 am on Saturday and when they returned a few hours later, they found his left eye missing.
The man's brother-in-law claimed that someone from the hospital had removed the eye. "How can they be so negligent? Either someone from the hospital conspired with the people who shot him or the hospital is involved in some business of taking people's eyes out," he said.
"If we can't trust such a big facility, who can we trust? Someone took his eye out in the ICU and the hospital is saying it doesn't know what has happened. This is very unfortunate," he added.
Police officials said CCTV footage is being examined.
"The man's family has alleged that his eye has been taken out. It is clear the body has been tampered with. The doctors have said rats could have bitten off the eye, and we are investigating," said an official.
NMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Vinod Kumar Singh said rats could be responsible and that a thorough investigation is being conducted.
"Fantus Kumar was admitted to the ICU after suffering a firearm injury. He was operated upon and the bullet was removed, but he died at 8:55 pm on Friday. His family was with him till 1 am and they informed us at 5 am that his left eye was missing. We are trying to look into what has happened. An FIR has been filed," he said.
"The possibility of rats biting off the eye cannot be ignored. We will have to wait for a post-mortem. This is not acceptable, and anyone found guilty of negligence will be punished," he added.
Mr Singh also argued that removing an eye, which can only be used for a corneal transplant, won't make much sense in Kumar's case because he was dead for at least four hours before it went missing.
"The patient died at 8.55 pm and the incident happened after 1.00 am. The eye, even if someone took it out, won't be of much use. An eye can only be used if it is surgically removed within four to six hours of the death," he said.