In an extremely disturbing incident, the body of a COVID-19 patient was found lying within the premises of a government hospital after being mauled by stray dogs.

The incident allegedly happened in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Andhra Pradesh's Ongole. The man's body was found lying inside a shed which is usually used by homeless people as a shelter. Andhra's Former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu shared a video of the deceased with a caption that read, "This is heartbreaking! A patient’s dead body has been lying uncared at the Ongole GGH for 2 days. Dogs have mauled & eaten the body sending jitters into co-patients. This is a serious violation of human dignity & huge mgmt failure of AP Gov. I am at loss of words to condemn this!" The man has been identified as Kantha Rao, a resident of Bitragunta village, Zarugumalli mandal, Prakasam district. The ward boys reportedly noticed his body when they saw stray dogs biting his ears off. The hospital staff were apparently not aware of the man's condition or his whereabouts.

However, RIMS Superintendent Dr. Sreeramulu reportedly stated, "As per our records, Kantha Rao was not admitted to the hospital. There is no record of him either as an in-patient or outpatient. The family members are saying that he was brought to the hospital on August 5 in an ambulance after testing positive for coronavirus. But he was staying in the old canteen shed, which is usually occupied by homeless people, so nobody in the hospital attended to him."

This is heartbreaking! A patient’s dead body has been lying uncared at the Ongole GGH for 2 days. Dogs have mauled & eaten the body sending jitters into co-patients. This is a serious violation of human dignity & huge mgmt failure of AP Gov. I am at loss of words to condemn this! pic.twitter.com/CVdBw8umLj

— N Chandrababu Naidu #StayHomeSaveLives (@ncbn) August 11, 2020