DEHRADUN: The body of a male fetus was recovered from the jaws of a stray dog by a security guard of Govt Doon Medical College Hospital, popularly known as Doon Hospital, on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
The fetus, which was not alive when recovered, was taken to the mortuary. The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Ravindra Bisht, said its exact age will be determined after an autopsy, adding that it had reached the third trimester of development.
Officials said an immediate check of hospital records and patients confirmed that all expectant mothers and newborns at the facility were accounted for.
“While it was definitely from the third trimester, it is unclear whether it was a full-term newborn or premature. The post-mortem examination will also reveal if it was stillborn, resulted from an unauthorised abortion, or died later due to injuries,” said Bisht.
He added that the fetus did not belong to any patient in the hospital and was possibly abandoned on the campus, where infrastructure work is currently ongoing. Hospital authorities have filed a police complaint, and an investigation is ongoing on the fetus’s origin.
Chandrabhan Adhikari, SHO, Kotwali police station, said a case will be registered after the post-mortem report is received.
“The cause of death is currently unknown. We are working to identify where the baby came from and whether it was abandoned alive or stillborn. Action will be taken against the negligent family,” he said. Police have not ruled out the possibility that the fetus might be linked to a patient at the hospital.
The incident comes after a sanitation worker had found a fetus in a washroom at the hospital last Sept.
