The Maharashtra police have filed a case of culpable homicide against Dr. Shyamrao Wakode, the dean of Dr. Shankarao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital, and another doctor. This comes after the unfortunate deaths of a woman and her infant at the hospital in Nanded district, Maharashtra. The hospital has witnessed a total of 37 deaths, including 18 infants, over the past four days.
In the case, officials at Nanded Gramin police station booked Wakode and the chief doctor of the pediatric department on the complaint of Kamaji Mohan Tompe, the father of Anjali Manchek Waghmare, 22, who alleged being unaware of his daughter’s death for 2 days after the incident.
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According to Tompe, Anjali was initially taken to a primary healthcare centre and then referred to a sub-district hospital. When her condition didn’t improve, the family followed the doctor’s instructions and admitted her to Dr. Shankarao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital on September 30.
Tompe stated that Anjali delivered a baby girl on October 1, and initially, both mother and baby were fine. However, after a few hours, doctors informed him that Anjali was experiencing bleeding and her condition was deteriorating. When they arranged blood packets and went to the ward to give them to the doctors and staff, no one was there.
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Tompe mentioned that he spoke to Wakode about the lack of doctors or staff attending to his daughter. He expressed that he had to wait for a significant amount of time, and when he followed up with Wakode, he was verbally abused and forcibly removed. He further stated that he was not allowed to see his daughter and her newborn, and they were not provided with any treatment by the hospital authorities.
“Despite knowing that the patient’s condition was not good, doctors and nurses were not sent to treat the patient. The infant died at 6 am on October 2. A day later, at 10.30 am on October 4 Anjali too died,” Tompe stated in the FIR.
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Anjali’s brother, Nagnath Tompe, mentioned that the doctors didn’t provide specific reasons for the deaths of his sister and her child. “Doctors just said that child died due to contaminated water in her mouth, while Anjali died of excessive bleeding. We had brought 14–15 packets of blood, but still, my sister could not be saved,” said Tompe.
The family also spent Rs 45,000 on medicines and blood packets. They chose not to inform Anjali about the newborn’s death to protect her fragile health. However, during treatment, Anjali also passed away.
Tompe expressed that his family and relatives are deeply saddened and struggling to console Anjali’s mother. It’s incredibly difficult to cope with the loss of two family members in just three days. Anjali’s husband, Manchek, works in a brick factory. The police will soon be recording statements from the dean and the other doctors who have been booked under sections 304 and 34 of the IPC.