Pathankot: ‘Turned away’ by doctors, woman delivers in Civil Hospital corridor

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, September 29

A poor woman gave birth to a daughter in the dingy corridor of the Civil Hospital here late last night after doctors allegedly refused to carry out the delivery citing various reasons.

The incident has snowballed into a major controversy with Principal Secretary (Health) Ajoy Sharma ordering a time-bound probe into the sequence of events leading to the incident. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Harbir Singh has also marked an independent inquiry, which will be conducted by Assistant Commissioner (General) Dr Sumit Mudh.

In what is apparently a firefighting exercise, Civil Surgeon (officiating) Dr Aditi Salaria issued a show-cause notice to Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Dr Sunil Chand.

Chand said the doctors tried several times to impress upon the woman to come to the labour room. “However, she blatantly refused,” he said.

On the directions of the Principal Secretary (Health), Dr Salaria has constituted a committee to look into what exactly happened at the dead of the night. Doctors on duty claimed the couple did not bring with them the mandatory reports following which they could not go ahead with the delivery.

However, Jang Bahadaur, husband of Sita Devi, who could be seen writhing in pain in a video that went viral minutes after the incident, had a different version. “They never asked for reports. They straightaway referred my wife to an Amritsar hospital. I told them we work as labourers and hence are poor. I tried to tell them that I did not have money to take my wife to Amritsar. However, nobody cared to listen to me,” he said.

A senior doctor refuted this claim. “We just asked them to produce the mandatory reports. The husband, for some reason, refused to cooperate with us. Just as we were in the midst of an argument, the women delivered a baby daughter. After some time, they walked away. We tried contacting them throughout the night but to no avail,” he said. This was Sita Devi’s fifth child, all of them being girls.

Municipal councillor Nitin Laddi Mahajan, who claimed he reached the hospital once news spread that “a poor woman was being mistreated”, said: “Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra had the audacity to belittle a world-class spine specialist like Dr Raj Bahadur. Will he take action against his own doctors? The entire city is watching his next move. I hope the incident rings a bell among senior officers in the Chief Minister’s secretariat.”

Meanwhile, angry residents have demanded strict action against the “negligent staff”.

Contradictory versions

We just asked them to produce the mandatory reports. The husband, for some reason, refused to cooperate with us. — A senior doctor

They never asked for reports. They straightaway referred my wife to an Amritsar hospital. — Jang Bahadaur, husband of sita devi

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