Hospital admin denies allegations, but DC Bandipora orders inquiry

Bandipora: In a shocking incident, a woman delivered her baby at the gate of the district hospital Bandipora on Saturday after being “forcibly expelled” from the hospital premise by a doctor citing her Covid-19 positive report.
According to the family, the 30-year-old woman, identified as Hafiza, a resident of the uphill village of Vewan, was forcefully expelled by the doctor and denied treatment even when her baby had already started coming out from her uterus.
“We arrived at 10:00 am Saturday, the appointed date, at the hospital and took her to the first floor where the gynaecology section is located. But we were denied treatment and were forcefully expelled from the hospital,” the husband of the woman told reporters.
At the gate, the woman collapsed on the ground and delivered a child, her family and other witnesses said.
Several witnesses in the hospital premises who saw the incident were outraged at the hospital administration.
“The doctor said she was Covid positive and he asked her to go somewhere else, even though her condition was very much evident to everyone,” a witness said.
“I saw her collapse near the gate and give birth to a baby amid rain,” the witness added.
“The poor have no place here. I witnessed her give birth in front of scores of men,” Rubeena, a woman attending to the expecting mother, is heard saying in the video of the family’s allegations that has gone viral on social media.
Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital, Bashir Ahmad Teeli, while speaking to Kashmir Reader denied the allegations and said that the designated Covid hospital is in Hajin and the medical officer had referred the woman to Hajin, but her labour precipitated while she was waiting for the ambulance and she delivered the baby in the hospital grounds where all the staff attended to her.
After the outrage, Deputy Commissioner Bandipora issued a show-cause notice to the MS and the medical officer who was on duty, while also ordering an inquiry into the matter headed by the ACR. The inquiry committee has been asked to report in a week.

Reader correspondent