In a shocking incident, a female senior citizen undergoing post-operative care in the general ward after an orthopaedic surgery at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) in Tiruchi suffered a toe injury after reportedly being bitten by a rat.According to local reports, the woman patient, in her 70s, had been admitted to the MGMGH to be treated for an ankle injury she had sustained when she fell at home in Alathur near Kalkandarkottai. On Thursday, her son, who was attending to her, went to serve her tea and was shocked to find that a part of her toe had been damaged, supposedly by rat bite.When alerted, doctors administered vaccines to the patient to prevent infections. “We have not installed surveillance cameras in this section, since it is a women’s ward; it is not possible to confirm if the patient’s toe was eaten by rats. However, we are taking action immediately to clean up the area and make the zone free of rodents,” a senior official told The Hindu.Hospital sources said that the pest control measures were carried out regularly on the premises every week, and rats could have entered the ward if food materials had been left lying around. The incident raised questions about the lapses in the government hospital’s hygiene protocols. Published - July 23, 2026 06:12 pm IST