JAIPUR: In a shocking incident in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, a Muslim man has alleged that a doctor refused to treat his pregnant wife simply because they were Muslim. Though the wife was in urgent need of help, the doctor’s refusal led to the woman losing her baby a little later.
The husband added that because of the doctor’s bias and negligence, his wife was not examined but referred to a Jaipur hospital. The video of the Muslim man’s allegations soon went viral which eventually triggered internal politics in Congress. Vishvendra Singh, the Tourism Minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, expressed his anger over the incident and targeted the State Health Minister and local MLA, Subhash Garg for this shocking failure. The government later asked the district collector of Bharatpur to investigate this incident.
A resident of Bela Nagar area, Irfan, alleged that Dr Monit Walia did not examine his wife and referred her directly to a Jaipur hospital.
'My wife had a delivery scheduled. I reached the district hospital around 8 in the morning. I met a lady of the staff who jot down my name and address. When she got to know my name and that I was a Muslim, she told me that we can't get any medical help there. She asked another doctor to make a reference card for a hospital in Jaipur. I was crying and took my wife in an ambulance. But we had barely got out of the city that my wife had a delivery and my child died in the process. This is all due to the doctor.' said Irfan.
'If my wife had a timely delivery, my child would have been safe. My family has been harassed and I want action against the guilty doctor', he further demanded.
But the hospital administration is denying the incident. 'He came in the morning and met the doctor. The doctor examined his wife and wrote further investigation. He also wrote the treatment plan and medicine to stop the bleeding. The nurse also administered an injection', said Dr Rupendra Jha, Janana Hospital, Bharatpur.
After the incident came to light, Tourism Minister and member of the erstwhile royal family of Bharatpur, MLA Vishvendra Singh criticised his own Government's State Health Minister and Bharatpur MLA, Subhash Garg.
'The incident at the Janana hospital in Bharatpur where a Muslim woman was denied treatment and referred to Jaipur just because of their religion is shameful,' tweeted Vishvendra Singh.
In another tweet, he added, 'this is the condition of the Bharatpur hospital and the MLA of Bharatpur who is also State Health Minister.' He asked Garg to examine the matter and attacked police for their lack of action. Moreover, he remarked that his Government is trying to play down the issue.
In reply to these allegations, Subhash Garg has said that they are baseless as in the past 5 days 8 women of the same religion have had deliveries in the hospital.
'There was no negligence in the examination by the doctor. The child was 6.5 months old and weighed 900 grams. It was a serious case and thus was referred to Jaipur hospital. But we will still examine the matter and punish them if found guilty', he stated.
Garg also fiercely attacked back at Vishvendra Singh saying, 'I have people's faith with me and I don't bother about it. I don't know why some people are scared of me.'
Garg and Vishvendra are both MLAs from Bharatpur and are already embroiled in a political tussle. While Garg is close to CM Ashok Gehlot, Vishvendra is close to deputy CM, Sachin Pilot. Now the tensions amongst the two are high after this new controversy.