80-yr-old tied to bed over ‘unpaid’ bills
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As he was suffering from intestinal pain and had difficulty in taking medicine, the staff tied his leg to the bed and held his hands so that they could administer the medicines.
nBHOPAL/SHAJAPUR: The Shajapur district administration in Madhya Pradesh ordered an inquiry on Saturday night into allegation that an 80-year-old patient in a private hospital was tied to the hospital bed and held captive for hours for non-payment of dues.
District collector Dinesh Jain’s inquiry order came immediately after chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took cognizance of a viral photo that showed the patient tied to the hospital bed on Friday. The hospital denied he was tied down due to non-payment of dues.
The patient, a man identified as Laxminarayan, was admitted to City Hospital in Shajapur city on
VARUN BAJAJ, hospital director
June 1 with intestinal pain. He was allegedly supposed to have been discharged on Friday evening after payment of ₹11,270 treatment bill. His family alleged that the hospital staff didn’t allow his daughter to leave either.
After an argument over the bill the hospital management called the police and during the ruckus someone snapped the photo of the patient and posted it on social media.
Talking to media, Laxminarayan said he had already deposited ₹11000 with the hospital and didn’t have money to pay the remaining amount immediately. “I was forcibly tied to the hospital bed for hours and even not allowed to have food and water,” he alleged.
On Saturday night chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted, “Most cruel behaviour with a senior citizen of Shajapur in a hospital has come to my notice. The guilty will not be spared and stringent action will be taken action them.”
Hospital director Dr Varun
Bajaj denied the charges on Sunday and said, “Tying the patient to the bed had nothing to do with non-payment of the hospital bill. As he was suffering from intestinal pain and had difficulty in taking medicine, the staff tied his leg to the bed and held his hands so that they could administer the medicines.”
He said the hospital staff had already lodged a complaint with the police when the patient and his family refused to clear the bill. “We discharged the patient later without realising the payment”, he added.
Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) SL Solanki who is conducting the inquiry said, “I will submit the inquiry report to the collector by Sunday night or Monday.”