Kochi: K.A. Abootty, father of medico Shamna Tasneem who died two years ago at Ernakulam Government Medical College (EMC) due to alleged medical negligence, has died at the end of an unsuccessful protracted battle to bring to book the alleged culprits behind the death of his daughter.
Abootty, 53, who had suffered cardiac arrest nearly a year ago after his health deteriorated due to the stress of his daughter’s death and the strain of following up the case with the police and other authorities, collapsed and died on Sunday evening in Muscat where he went to revive his business after a gap of two years.
Abootty, a native of Sivapuram near Mattan-nur, who had been doing business in Muscat for years together, had mostly restricted himself to his house Ayisha Manzil after his cardiac arrest. He had also almost given up the hopes of bringing to justice what he called the culprits in the murder of his daughter. However, he still pursued the case in the Kerala High Court where two accused doctors had obtained stay against the Crime Branch proceedings against them.
Abootty sternly believed that the negligence of the doctors and other staff at EMC led to the death of his daughter. “She walked into the hospital with fever and how can such a girl die. If such a fate visited a student of the medical college, then what would be the fate of other people. I am waging this battle so that no other child dies in future because of such gross negligence,” Aboo-tty time and again said.
The promise of Chief Minister and his neighbour, the health minister, to deliver him justice are going in vain. He then said that the accused are powerful and he was finding it tough to wage the battle for long even after the state medical board named two doctors and nurses in the case. The reports said there was delay in giving crucial care Shamna at the critical hour. In the past two years, the probe found several twists and turns and in the end Abootty joined his daughter ending his journey for justice unfulfilled.
