Kin blame civic hospital for woman’s death

NEGLIGENCE Denied bed in ICU after delivering baby, woman taken to JJ hospital, which too had a full ICU; she was brought back to NMMC hosp

After a 26-year-old woman died three days after giving birth to a baby boy, her relatives have alleged the negligence of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) hospital in Vashi.

The woman had delivered the baby boy in the hospital.

The hospital allegedly did not have a bed for the woman in its intensive care unit (ICU), which led to her death on Wednesday.

According to the deceased’s family, Suman Naresh Dalvi, a resident of Indira Nagar in Turbhe was admitted to the hospital on Saturday. She was nine months pregnant.

“Around 5pm that day, my sister gave birth to a baby boy in general ward of the hospital. Both the baby and the mother were doing well that day as well as the following day,” said Lakhan Jadhav, 24, Suman’s younger brother.

“However, on Monday evening my sister developed some respiratory problem. The doctors examined her and said that my sister was serious and hence she would have to be shifted to JJ hospital in Mumbai as they did not have seats in their ICU,” he said.

The family was doubtful about getting a bed at the ICU of the JJ hospital.

“But when we spoke to the doctors about it, they told us they had spoken to the JJ hospital authorities and that my sister would get a bed in the ICU. So we took her and the baby to Mumbai around 12.30am,” he added.

The doctors in JJ hospital told them that the ICU was packed and there was no bed available.

“We ran from pillar to post to get her admitted there for several hours but to no avail. We also tried at some other hospitals in the area, but could not manage to get a seat in the ICU,” Lakhan said.

Finding no option, the family took the woman back to NMMC hospital on Tuesday morning.

“To our surprise, the doctors in the hospital got infuriated and asked us why we brought her back to Vashi. This time, we forcefully took Suman at the ICU and lay her on a seat there. The doctors started treating her, but failed to save her life. She started bleeding from her mouth and she passed away around 2.30am on Wednesday. The baby is doing well now,” said Balu Bhakel, a relative of the family.

The family alleges that the woman died because of the negligence of the hospital Relatives of 26-year-old Suman Dalvi (inset) outside the NMMC hospital on Wednesday. authorities.

“She suffered a lot a while we were struggling for a bed at JJ hospital for several hours. Also the road to Mumbai and from Vashi is full of potholes and that travelling was not advisable for her as she had a cesarean delivery two days ago,” Jadhav said.

“Whatever has happened to us should not happen to anyone else. The authorities concerned should pay attention to such issues of the hospital and hundreds of families from the city are dependent of such civic hospitals,” he added.

Despite repeated attempts, Dr Prashant Jawade, medical superintendent of the hospital, was unavailable for comments.

He did not reply to text messages.

The Turbhe police have registered an accidental death case. Ram Deshmukh, senior police inspector of Turbhe police station said, “We cannot register a case of negligence against the doctors unless we receive an order from the court or the medical board. So for now, we have registered one accidental death (ADR) case.”

The woman’s last rites was held at Turbhe on Wednesday evening.

The Nerul police on Tuesday arrested a 22-yearold man for allegedly raping his minor niece.

According to the police, the eight-year-old girl used to stay with her family at Diwale village. She was alone at home on Monday afternoon as her parents had gone to a hospital for checkup.

The accused, Vijay Kamble, who stayed nearby, visited the girl’s house for some work. Finding her alone at home, he bolted the door from inside and then raped her.

“When the accused was forcing himself on the child, she began to cry out loud for help. A woman from the neighbourhood heard her cries and called up her mother. However, by the time the victim’s parents reached home, the accused had fled the spot,” said Nitin Shinde, police subinspector from Nerul police station.

The child then narrated the entire incident to her parents who then approached the police and registered an FIR against the accused. “We started looking for the accused and arrested him in the early hours of Tuesday from another part of Nerul,” Shinde said.

The police have booked the accused under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 4 and 8 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. He has been remanded to police custody till August 30. So far the police have not found any criminal record of the accused.

“The girl was sent to NMMC Hospital in Vashi for medical tests. Basic medical reports, however, have confirmed the rape,” Shinde said.

Commenting on this, the deputy commissioner of police (crime) Dilip Sawant said, “In a majority of the rape cases we registered this year, the accused were known to the victims. Many of the victims were raped either by family members or by relatives at their homes. There is hardly any incident wherein a woman was raped by some unknown people on road or at any isolated place.”

BACHCHAN KUMAR