Nanded hospital dean, doctor arrested for woman's death, and infant deaths

The police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Dr Shyamrao Wakode, the dean Dr Shankarao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital and another doctor after a woman and her infant died at the hospital in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, officials said. The state government-run hospital has recently witnessed the deaths of 37 people, including 18 infants, in a span of four days.

Officials in Nanded Gramin police station on Wednesday night booked Dr Wakode and the chief doctor of the paediatric department on the complaint of Kamaji Mohan Tompe, the father of Anjali Manchek Waghmare, 22, who died Wednesday unaware that her baby girl had died two days ago.

According to Tompe, a farmer from Nanded, Anjali was first rushed to a primary healthcare centre by her family, and from there she was referred to a sub-district hospital. Since her condition did not improve, the family followed the doctor’s instructions at the sub-district hospital and got her admitted to the Dr Shankarao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital on September 30, he stated.

"On October 1, she gave birth to a girl early, and my daughter and the baby were well at the moment. But, after a few hours, medical personnel told me that Anjali was bleeding and that her situation was getting worse. We were requested to set up blood by the doctors. No one was there when we organised blood packages and proceeded to the ward to deliver them to medical professionals and personnel, the man said in the complaint.

Tompe claimed to have seen Dr. Wakode and informed him that neither a doctor nor any personnel were available to care for his daughter. I had to wait a very long period. There was no personnel or physician dispatched to the patient. I was assaulted and kicked out when I followed up with Dr. Wakode about the situation. He added that the hospital staff did not provide his daughter or the child with any care and that he was not even permitted to meet them.

"Doctors and nurses were not dispatched to treat the patient despite being aware of their poor state. On October 2, around 6 am, the newborn passed away. Anjali also passed away on October 4 at 10:30 a.m., according to Tompe's statement in the FIR.

Nagnath Tompe, Anjali's brother, said that the family was not informed of the circumstances surrounding his sister and her child's deaths. "Doctors basically claimed Anjali died from heavy bleeding, while the infant died from polluted water in her mouth. My sister was still not able to be saved even though we had brought 14 to 15 packets of blood, Tompe stated.

According to Anjali's father, the family spent Rs 45,000 on prescription drugs and blood packs. Nagnath Tompe claimed that because his sister's health was in poor condition, the family did not tell Anjali about the newborn's passing. "We believed that this would have had a negative effect on her health. But she passed away tonight while receiving treatment," he added.

The family members were having a hard time comforting Anjali's mother at the hospital. Tompe stated, "My family and relatives are in great sorrow and don't know how to deal with a circumstance where two of your family members perished in just a matter of three days.

Manchek, the spouse of Anjali, works in a brick industry. The police will shortly take the dean and the other doctor's statements after they were arrested for guilty home invasion not amounting to murder and common interest, respectively, under sections 304 and 34 of the Indian Criminal Code (IPC).