Magisterial probe ordered
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 13: The family members and relatives of a 24-year-old woman, who died day before yesterday at SMGS Hospital Jammu, nearly two weeks after giving birth to a dead child, staged a strong protest today alleging medical negligence and demanded a probe into her death.
The protestors, carrying the body of the deceased, staged a sit-in on the main road at Karan Bagh, alleging that she died within 10 minutes after intravenous injection was administered to her. Click here to watch video
According to the reports, the deceased identified as Kuldeep Kour wife of Pardeep Singh, resident of Govindpura (Chatha), who delivered a dead baby around 12 days back, complained of abdominal pain and breathlessness at home on Friday evening and was subsequently admitted to the Government Medical College.
The woman, however, died in the hospital on Saturday afternoon but doctors took away all her medical records when the accompanying family members questioned their claim that the deceased was COVID-19 positive and would be cremated as per the set protocol.
“She tested negative for the virus on her admission in the hospital. She was sick but was not in a critical condition. We questioned the false claim and after our protest, a re-test was done which turned out negative and the body of the deceased was handed over around 11.30 PM for last rites,” one of the protestors said.
Demanding a fair probe and stern action against doctors for their alleged negligence, he said, “We have given a week’s time to the Government to complete its inquiry and take necessary action against those involved.” “If justice is denied to us, we will restart our agitation,” he said.
After several hours of protest, the body of the deceased was later cremated by her relatives on the intervention of senior civil administrative officers who rushed to the spot and assured action in the case.
Meanwhile, former Minister Raman Bhalla expressed sympathies with the bereaved family and demanded a high level enquiry into the matter. He said that during COVID-19 times, the patient care in the hospital has been badly hit due to which death rate has increased. He demanded to solve infrastructure and manpower issues in the hospital.
When contacted, DC Jammu Sushma Chauhan said that on the allegations of woman’s family members, she has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter which will be conducted by ADDC Jammu, ACR Jammu and CMO Jammu. She said the enquiry report will be submitted within 7 days.
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