Rabid WB Man Sinks Teeth into Patient Before Dying

Rabid WB Man Sinks Teeth into Patient Before Dying

TIRUCHY: A rabies affected man triggered panic at the MGMGH late on Wednesday night after he escaped from confinement cell by breaking the door open and biting an in-patient’s leg before succumbing to the disease.

Arafat (28), from Kolkata, had been residing in Karur for the past seven years along with his wife Saleema (26). Arafat suffered a dog bite three months ago but reposed faith in Karur’s ‘traditional healers’ for cure. Since he was away from quality medication, his health condition deteriorated leading to ‘furious rabies’.

After setting himself free from his special cell, Arafat ran helter skelter unleashing panic among the in-patients and bit a man’s leg which was about to be amputated. Arafat died on Thursday morning.

“It still feels like a part of my body has been ripped off and the incident of Wednesday would forever haunt me. All I remember is that he was coming towards me shouting at the top of his voice and suddenly inscribed his teeth on leg,” said K Arjunan (30) of Iluppur of Pudukkottai district. Since his leg was to be amputated, he remained immobile and could not follow the others near him who took to their heels when Arafat barged into the ward. MGMGH doctors treated Arjunan for dog bites and there was no bleeding on the bitten place.

Arafat’s family members revealed that he had stopped taking treatment. “He informed us about the dog bite and since then he was continuously taking some medicines. However, he stopped at one point and turned to consuming liquor instead, which perhaps led to his death. Had he been taking proper medication, this kind of a situation could be avoided,” his brother Mohamed told Express.

When MGMGH’s Medical Superintendent Dr Kanagaraj was contacted, he termed the incident ‘unfortunate’. “We are searching for a new place for constructing separate building and we will finalise it within this week,” he said.

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