HIV positive man in Odisha commits suicide after govt hospitals deny treatment

Bhubaneswar: A 28-year-old HIV positive man in Keonjhar district of Odisha hanged himself after he was allegedly denied treatment by various government hospitals.

According to a report, the body of the man was found hanging from a tree early on Tuesday. The police said that the man was working as a migrant labourer in Surat and later as an ironsmith in Puducherry. He suffered fractures in his leg and hand in a motorcycle accident in January 2018. During routine tests in Puducherry, the doctors got to know that the man was HIV positive.

The man’s father in his complaint said, “The man was supposed to undergo surgery for a fractured hand in Puducherry hospital and when he was diagnosed as HIV positive, he was referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. However, doctors in Cuttack bandaged his hand and didn’t operate because he was HIV positive. He was discharged without further treatment.”

Later, man’s father took him to Keonjhar district hospital for antiretroviral therapy (ART) but was referred to Bhadrak district hospital as it is the only one in four district hospital with facilities of ART.

On March 9, the man went to Bhadrak DHQ hospital, where doctors kept him on medication but no surgery was done on his fractured hand, the victim’s father alleged.

Bhadrak CDMO Dr MA Rashid said he was unaware of the man being turned away without being operated on his hand and would investigate the matter.

Distressed over the delay in operating his hand, the man also felt humiliated by the villager’s treatment towards him.

A local resident said, "The villagers used to taunt him and would ask him to sit at a distance. Even the villagers used to wash the place where he sat and often told him to avoid the village pond."