Gorakhpur hosp tragedy: Dr Kafeel freed on bail
GORAKHPUR: Dr Kafeel, the nodal in charge of AES ward, who was jailed in connection with the BRD tragedy in which 30 children had died due to alleged disruption in oxygen supply on August 10 and 11, got a hero’s welcome from his supporters after being released from Gorakhpur jail on Saturday. Lodged in Gorakhpur jail for the past 8 months, Dr Kafeel was finally granted bail earlier this month by the HC.
GORAKHPUR: Dr Kafeel, the nodal in charge of AES ward, who was arrested and jailed in connection with the BRD tragedy in which 30 children had died due to alleged disruption in oxygen supply on August 10 and 11, got a hero’s welcome from his supporters after being released from Gorakhpur jail on Saturday.
Lodged in Gorakhpur jail for the past 8 months, Dr Kafeel was finally granted bail earlier this month by the high court. Earlier attempts to get bail, including one in special anti-corruption court in Gorakhpur, were not entertained and bail pleas were rejected on different grounds.
Hundreds of cheerful supporters greeted him outside the prison, holding placards which read – ‘Justice for Dr Kafeel’, ‘Dr Kafeel you are a real hero, you are a real doctor,’ etc. His eight-yearold daughter Jabreena, wife Dr Shabista and brother Adeel were also there.
A visibly emotional Dr Kafeel was surrounded by reporters who threw questions at him.
Requesting them to let him go, he said, “I am very tired now. All these days I and my family were in distress.”
Asked whom he felt was responsible for the oxygen tragedy, Dr Kafeel said,
“I have already written everything in my letter about who was guilty and who was not.”
To note , a letter written by Kafeel from jail on April 17 was released to the media by his wife Shabista during a press conference in Delhi.
In the letter Kafeel had questioned the action against him and his colleagues.
Dr Shabista, who has been accusing the jail administration of not providing proper treatment to her ailing husband, had time and again questioned the action against doctors, saying “On the one hand the government has denied disruption in oxygen supply as the cause behind the deaths and on the other it has jailed nine people, holding them responsible for the mishap.”
Dr Kafeel, who was hailed as the saviour of children by a section of the media after the tragedy, was later arrested and sent to jail.
On November 25 , almost one month after filing charge sheet against seven of the nine accused , police had filed charge sheet against Dr Kafeel and Baba Raghav Das (BRD) medical college former principal Dr Rajeev Mishra ,who is also in jail with the other accused for the past nearly eight months and is suffering from critical ailments like liver cirrhosis .
After being released on bail, Dr Kafeel claimed he was innocent and asserted that even the high court had said that there was no evidence against him.
“See, the honourable high court has clearly said there is no evidence against me. For the last eight months, my family and I have been in distress. I don’t know what is my fault. Can any father, any doctor, any Indian do so. No, he can never,” Kafeel said while questioning the action against him.