Rats gnawed at the body of a woman, who allegedly committed suicide by hanging, at a mortuary here, officials said on Wednesday.

The district authorities have formed a three-member team to investigate the matter, they said.

The 21-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging on December 2. The same day, police shifted her body to the mortuary at around 11 pm, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the district Dr Imtiyaz Ahmed told PTI.

“It appears that the body was not covered properly and was gnawed at by rats in the night,” he said.

The bite marks were noted by the family members, police and the hospital staff before the post-mortem on December 3. Following this, the victim’s mother filed a complaint to the CMO alleging negligence in handling of the body, officials said.

“On the mother’s complaint, we formed a three-member team of doctors headed by Additional Chief Medical Officer Virendra Singh the same day to probe the matter and file its report within a week," the CMO said.

According to police, the woman committed suicide at her-laws house. On the complaint of her family members, an FIR of dowry death against the victim’s husband and her in-laws has been registered. The case is under investigation.

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