The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Wednesday sought a status report from the state authorities on the death of two infants who were bitten by rats at a government-run hospital in Indore, The Hindu reported.

A bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and JK Pillai took suo motu cognisance of the incident and issued notices to the authorities. It sought the status report within five days, along with the list of persons against whom action had been taken.

The bench said that the incident prima facie appeared to be because of the “gross negligence” of the Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital’s administration.

The infants were bitten by rats on August 31 and September 1 in the neonatal intensive care unit, according to a report submitted by Ashok Yadav, medical superintendent of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, with which the Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital is linked.

The report, accessed by Scroll, also stated that nurses in the neonatal unit had noticed the rats days before the incident but failed to report them, as a result of which no inspection was conducted.

One infant was bitten on the fingers by the rats, while the other was bitten on her head and shoulder.

The first baby died on September 2, with hospital authorities citing pneumonia as the cause. The second died a day later due to septicemia, according to the hospital. Septicemia is an infection that occurs when bacteria enter the bloodstream.

On September 3, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that “no negligence of any kind by the government will be tolerated” and announced a high-level investigation into the matter. “A permanent solution to the problem will be implemented to ensure such incidents do not occur,” Mohan Yadav said.

The district collector had said that a third-party audit would be conducted, adding that further action would be based on its findings.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had also ordered the district collector to conduct an investigation and submit a report on the deaths.

The Opposition Congress had described the deaths as “outright murder”.

On September 10, the court asked the additional advocate general to furnish replies from several government authorities, including the principal secretary of the state public health and medical education department, the divisional commissioner, the district collector and the city police commissioner.

It also sought a reply from the dean of the Government Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College.

The matter will be heard next on September 15.

Hours after the court’s directives, the hospital administration removed Brajesh Lahoti, the head of the paediatric surgery department, from his post, The Hindu reported. It also suspended Manoj Joshi, who had assumed charge days before the incident in Lahoti’s absence.