Stray dog snatches newborn baby girl from hospital in India

Hospital workers rescued the three-hour-old baby, when a stray dog snatched her from a hospital in eastern India, said Sukadev Mohanty, the senior doctor at the state-run hospital in the town of Anandapur, where the incident happened Monday. 

Photo: Stray dog snatches newborn baby girl from hospital in India

"The girl was sleeping in her mother's lap after the delivery when the stray dog entered into the hospital and snatched the baby away," Mohanty said.

The mother, Babi Das, had apparently been sitting on the floor while waiting for her husband after being discharged, he said.

Mohanty said that when Das began screaming, one of the nurses chased the dog with a broomstick, causing it to drop the baby and run away.

"However, by that time the newly born had already sustained multiple dog bite injuries in her body," Mohanty said. He said the girl had been transferred to another hospital for treatment.

Government health officials were quoted as denying any negligence, saying it was the family's fault.

"I would rather blame the family members who were present when the stray dog entered the ward and snatched the baby," the Hindustan Times newspaper quoted Pranabanand Sethi, the chief district medical officer, as saying.