Thiruvananthapuram: For the past 31 days, Suresh Babu and Remya of Kottamukal near here are protesting in front of the secretariat along with their 3-year-old daughter Durga, demanding action against the people responsible for the death of their four-month-old daughter Rudra. Rudra died while under treatment at the SAT Hospital on July 10 and since then the family has been knocking every door to get justice. The family’s protest had forced the district administration to exhume Rudra’s body for a second post-mortem examination on July 20.
The medical college police had registered an FIR on the basis of Suresh’s complaint. When contacted, assistant commissioner of police Pramod Kumar said they had received the post-mortem examination report. “We are awaiting reports from the DMO and medical board. We should be able to file the chargesheet once we get the report,” he said. I B Satheesh MLA said Health Minister K.K Shailaja had ordered a detailed departmental inquiry into the incident during the last assembly session.
Suresh, a daily wage labourer, alleged that there was a deliberate move to hush up the case. He alleged that Rudra died on July 10 due to alleged medical negligence. “She was brought to the hospital for treatment of rashes on her skin. But her condition became worse eventually resulting in death. She was being treated mainly by students and not by senior doctors. We are going to fight till those guilty of snuffing out the life of our little daughter are brought to justice,” he said. The hospital authorities, however, maintained that the child had died due to acute malnutrition which had led to multi-organ failure. With the authorities sitting over the medical board report, there seems to be little hope for the family for the moment.
