In a heart-wrenching incident, a woman and her new-born twins died on Thursday after the Tumakuru district general hospital authorities refused to admit her for delivery for not producing her health card.
Thirty-year-old Kasturi from Tamil Nadu and her two new-born babies died at her residence at Bharathinagar locality in Tumakuru city.
Protesting the hospital’s apathy, the locals staged a protest and demanded suspension of the concerned doctors and staff. The family and relatives of the woman also refused to cremate the bodies until action is taken against the guilty.
According to locals, Kasturi had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying at a rented place with her daughter. Kasturi, who was pregnant, developed labour pain on Wednesday evening.
She was taken to the government district hospital in an auto. But, the authorities and staff of the government district hospital refused admission in the absence of Aadhaar and Mother’s card.
The doctors also refused to provide her treatment and admit her to the hospital despite the woman being in labour. They asked her to be taken to Victoria hospital in Bengaluru.
As she did not have money to go to Bengaluru, Kasturi returned home. On Thursday, she gave birth to twin boys but died due to profuse bleeding.
Following the death of their mother, the twins also died. The public held the doctors of the government hospital responsible for the deaths.
The incident has come under severe criticism from both Congress and the JDS. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr K Sudhakar visited the hospital on Thursday evening and took stock of the situation. Duty doctor Usha AR and three nurses have been suspended pending departmental inquiry, the minister added.
Meanwhile, JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter to slam the government. “A while ago I tweeted about the dark side of state @BJP4Karnataka government administration (recession incident) which is drowning in politics, elections and propaganda. But, a more terrible and gut-wrenching incident took place in Tumkur, which shook the whole of Karnataka(sic)” he tweeted, demanding Sudhakar’s resignation.
A woman named Mrs. Kasturi (30) of Bharatinagar, Tumkur, who was suffering from labor pains, was brought to the district hospital by the locals late last night. But the doctor who was on duty sent the pregnant woman back mercilessly on the pretext that the mother had not made the card without giving birth. 3/9
— HD Kumaraswamy | HDKumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) November 3, 2022
“Is mother card important, or the treatment? Life matters, or rules? @mla_sudhakar What is important? Is the rule mandatory for treatment that is not for corruption?”, Congress attacked the minister.
Assuring action against the guilty, District Health Officer Dr Manjunath said that Aadhaar and mother cards are not mandatory for admitting patients for delivery.
Expressing grief over the incident, Minister for Muzarai Shahikala Jolle termed it “unfortunate” saying the case should be probed thoroughly. Let the investigation reveal who is responsible for this incident and those guilty should be punished. “I will speak to the Health Minister in this regard,” she stated.
NEPS Police in Tumakuru city are investigating the matter.
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