Jharkhand man ends life over hospital bill

A JHARKHAND man allegedly committed suicide after he was told that his daughter hospitalised at a Burdwan nursing home would not be discharged unless he paid the entire bill that their family said was inflated.

Four people, including three owners and the nursing home manager, have been detained, police said on Saturday.

Tapan Lete, 46, a farmer from Dumka, hanged himself from a tree at his village in Jharkhand on Tuesday night after he was unable to raise the Rs 25,000 bill.

The family alleged that the privately run PG Nursing Home told Tapan that unless he paid the entire amount, his daughter, Chumki,wouldnotbedischarged and sent to a home for destitutes.

Chumki had delivered a baby at Rampurhat Hospital in Birbhum on February 7. Her health deteriorated and the hospital referred her to the Burdwan Medical College, police said.

“The doctors at the Birbhum hospital did not bother to check what was actually wrong with my daughter. Instead they immediately referred her to Burdwan,” said Chumki’s mother, Anima.

Doctors said that Chumki suffered postpartum nausea.

A driver of a government ambulance service had suggested Tapan to admit his daughter to a nursing home for better treatment on February 19. “We suspect that the ambulance driver was part of a larger group of touts who cheat poor,” a police officer said. Three days later, the nursing home handed Tapan the bill, police said.

He rushed to his village to arrangeforthemoney.“hehadmanaged to arrange only Rs 13,000. Tapan and his neighbours had even tried to convince the hospital that they would donate blood iftheygiveadiscount.buttheyrefused,” said a police officer.