Stray dogs eat foreigner's body in Bihar

Patna: In a shocking incident, the body of a foreign tourist kept outside the post-mortem room at a Bihar hospital was eaten by stray dogs, police said on Tuesday.

The negligence of health officials is being said to be the reason behind the incident.

"Some stray dogs were seen eating body parts of a Bhutanese woman, who was killed in a road accident in Begusarai on Monday," police official Ali Sabri said.

According to police, Pema Choden, 53, was hit by a speeding truck.

She was on her way to Bodh Gaya in Gaya district to attend Kalchakra Puja of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama, scheduled to be held in January.

"The woman, along with other Buddhist Lama, was travelling in a bus. They alighted in Begusarai for refreshment and unfortunately when she was crossing the road, was hit by a vehicle and died," police officials said.

After the accident, police sent her body to hospital for post-mortem. "But the concerned health officials left her body in the open outside the post-mortem room and some stray dogs ate some parts of the body," police said.

Taking serious note of the incident, Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav has asked the district civil surgeon Harinarain Singh to submit an explanation within 48 hours.

Singh has, however, blamed police officials for this incident. Allegedly, police did not hand over her body to the hospital but left it outside the post-mortem room.

However, Begusarai district Superintendent of Police, Ranjit Kumar Mishra said hospital officials were responsible for it.

"I have asked the local police station in-charge to inquire into it," Mishra said.