Hyderabad: The picture of a distraught father forced to carry dead body of his 7-year-old daughter after being denied an ambulance by a government hospital in Karimnagar shook everyone.
A team of Congress leaders comprising of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Official Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin, HCC Minorities Dept Chairman Sameer Waliullah and others, visited Kunaram village in Kalva Srirampuram mandal of Peddapalli district on Wednesday to meet the man, Sampath, a labourer, check the reality behind the incident.
“The picture tells only the half-story of how the poor father was ill-treated after his daughter’s death. The entire story is even more shocking. The girl, Komalatha, died due to negligence of Government Main Hospital in Karimnagar. She was denied treatment and left on the floor for two days till she died. The family was asked to take her to a hospital in Warangal despite the fact that it did not had any money even to return home or eat food,” TPCC Spokesperson Syed Nizamuddin said while speaking to media persons outside Karimanagar Government Hospital.
During interaction with Congress leaders, Sampath informed that his daughter Komalatha to Karimnagar Government Hospital on August 30 for treatment of some liver ailment. However, the doctors initially refused to admit her and advised him to take her to a hospital in Warangal. Since he was not having any means to travel to Warangal, he requested the hospital authorities to give her some treatment. He was told that there was no bed available in the hospital and therefore, the ailing girl was made to lie on the floor. She was left almost unattended for two days till she died. Even after her death, the poor family was mistreated and it was denied an ambulance or other transportation to carry the body to the home Kunaram village, about 40 kms away.
Later, the Congress leaders visited the government hospital and met Medical Superintendent Dr. D. Ajay Kumar to enquire about the incident. Dr. Ajay Kumar told that the girl was suffering from a kidney-related ailment and admitted that Sampath was asked to take the girl to Warangal Hospital for treatment. But he had no answer when asked whether his hospital does not have nephrologists to treat the girl. Although he denied of medical negligence, he had no reply when asked to explain the treatment given to the girl.
Speaking to media persons later, Syed Nizamuddin said that the girl died due to negligence by Karimnagar Government Hospital and demanded stern action against all those responsible for it. He also demanded Rs. 10 lakh ex-gratia to the family.
“This incident has brought shame for entire the humanity. A little girl was denied treatment till she died and her father was forced to beg for money to conduct last rituals. Is this the Bangaru Telangana? Is this the way country’s richest State treat its citizens? Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and Health Minister Etala Rajender are busy in their politics. They are fighting over who owns the TRS. They are not showing any concern towards lack of facilities for poor patients,” he alleged.
The Congress leaders demanded that the Chief Minister immediately order a probe into the incident and take exemplary action against those responsible so as to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future. (NSS)
