Kerala human rights panel orders Rs 5 lakh compensation
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has directed the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to a patient who was trapped in a lift at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital.
Commission chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas ordered that the compensation be given to Raveendran Nair of Pongumoodu within two months. “There was grave dereliction of duty and serious negligence on the part of the officials concerned, and the life of the patient could have been lost,” the commission stated in its order.
The commission also directed that a compliance report be submitted once the compensation is paid. Justice Thomas further ordered the superintendent of the medical college to provide Raveendran Nair with all necessary treatment, free of cost, for the physical and mental trauma caused by the incident. If needed, the services of a clinical psychologist should also be made available.
On July 15, 2024, Raveendran Nair, who had gone to Trivandrum Medical College Hospital for a check-up, was trapped inside an elevator for 48 hours.
A lift operator who came for duty the next morning found Raveendran Nair lying exhausted.
Sharing his terrifying ordeal, 59-year-old Raveendran Nair, a temporary employee of the legislative assembly, said he had gone to the Orthopaedics department for a check-up. He entered the lift to reach the first floor, but instead it went down and the doors stayed shut. "As the elevator shook violently, my phone slipped from my hand and crashed to the floor, breaking from the impact. I kept pressing the alarm button in panic, but no one came. The emergency phone inside the lift also went unanswered," he recalled.
The lift operator, finishing for the day, locked it without checking inside.
