KOLLAM: The relatives including the husband and son of a Dalit woman who died of an alleged medical negligence at Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital will stage a hunger strike in front of the hospital on Saturday seeking justice. The pregnant woman along with her baby in womb died at the hospital a year back. Sahida, 31, wife of Baiju, Muslim Street, Kottarakkara who was in her ninth month of pregnancy, sought medical aid at the hospital on May 14, 2016. She was admitted to the operation theatre by 11 pm and was later found dead.
Her relatives say she was in good health, and she came to the hospital by foot. Bindu Krishna, the Kollam DCC president who is also the chief of Mahila Congress in Kerala, will inaugurate protest. They allege the doctor who was in charge of the operation theatre went out immediately after admitting the lady without giving her proper attention. The head nurse also gave her medicine in a high dosage which worsened the condition of the pregnant woman. They gave complaints to authorities including the chief minister to no avail.
“A head nurse who was in charge of the labour room there administered my wife with a full dose of injection without even giving a test dose, which is the standard procedure," Saijda’s husband Baiju Raju who is also an ambulance driver said. "She was also given intravenous fluid at higher rates. The medicine caused her to suffocate to death. Had she given proper attention, her life could have saved. A nurse at the hospital had also given statements against the doctor in charge of the labour room." Meanwhile, doctors' associations including KGMOA, in a move to defend the accused gynaecologist, raised allegations that she was threatened and manhandled by relatives of the woman who died.
