A month-old child, who was sleeping next to his mother at a government hospital, was taken away by a stray dog and mauled to death in Sirohi district of Rajasthan, police said on Tuesday. The body was found outside the hospital ward, they said.

Police said the CCTV footage showed that two dogs went inside the TB ward of the hospital late Monday night and one of them returned with the infant.

Sitaram, SHO, Kotwali said Mahendra Meena, the father of the child, was admitted in the hospital for silicosis treatment. He said the child's mother, Rekha, who was attending to the patient along with her three children, dozed off.

The officer said the hospital staff was also not present at the ward at the time of the incident. "Post-mortem has been conducted by a medical board. A case will be registered in the matter after further investigation," the SHO said.

Meanwhile, the child's father accused the hospital authorities and police of making his wife sign blank papers and perform the last rites of his child without informing him.

"I was admitted in the hospital on Monday. Dogs were coming inside the ward and I chased them away. My wife woke up at 2 am and found the dogs mauling our child. Today, the hospital authorities and police took the signature of my wife on blank papers and got the last rites of my son done without informing me. I could not even see my son's face," Meena said.

The hospital administration has also initiated a probe into the matter.

"The patient's attendant was sleeping and the hospital guard was attending to the other ward. I have not seen the CCTV footage (of the incident). I will be able to comment only after the investigation," Acting Principal Medical Officer (PMO), Sirohi district hospital, Virendra earlier told reporters.

Condemning the incident, BJP district chief Narayan Purohit said the hospital officials should be held accountable for the tragedy.

"It is a complete failure of the hospital administration. Stray dogs are roaming inside the hospital whereas the chief minister and local MLA are claiming that they have changed the face of healthcare facilities in the state," he said.

BJP workers also met the aggrieved family members and held a sit-in demanding compensation and other demands. The protestors handed over a memorandum to the district administration officials to take strict action in the matter.

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