Ants eat coma patient's eye

2005-11-15 16:13

Kolkata - A coma patient whose left eye was eaten by ants as she lay in a state hospital in eastern India died on Tuesday morning, an official said.

"The woman had lost one of her eyes (to ants). She died this morning of post-surgery complications," said S Adhikary, acting superintendent of Sambhunath Pandit Hospital in the city of Kolkata.

"She was already on her death bed and this added to her problems."

Gouri Rani Chakraborty, 54, a diabetic, was admitted to the hospital on November 7 with high blood pressure and post-surgery complications after undergoing a cataract operation in a private nursing home, the hospital said.

"She slipped into a coma soon after admission," said Adhikary.

When Chakraborty's family visited her on Monday morning, she looked dreadful.

"I saw red ants crawling on my mother's face when I came to visit her," said Soumen, her son.

"I requested a nurse to remove the ants but she said it was not her duty before leaving the ward."

The family said they had complained to police about the staff.

Adhikary expressed regret over the incident but said it was not uncommon for ants to bite a diabetic patient because of their high levels of blood sugar.

The incident will be investigated.

Most state hospitals in India tend to be overcrowded, not only with human beings but with dogs, cats and rats as well.

Two years ago rats gnawed off the fingertip of a patient at the cardiac ward of another Kolkata hospital.

- AFP