GUWAHATI: Mystery shrouded the death of a child at an Assam tea estate.
The less than a one-year-old ailing child, declared dead by the tea garden hospital compounder, had woken up before burial but only to be declared dead again hours later by the doctors at the Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh, the family claimed.
The incident occurred at the Muttuck Tea Estate in Dibrugarh district on Sunday. The police said the compounder, Gautam Mitra, had been arrested.
“The family said the child was declared dead by the compounder but when he was brought back home, he was found to be alive. It also claimed that the mother had breast-fed him,” Hrishikesh Hazarika, who is the officer-in-charge of the local police station, said.
The compounder, Gautam Mitra, had apparently declared the child dead in the absence of the tea garden hospital doctor.
“Compounders are not authorised to declare a person dead. It is a doctor’s job. Hence, we arrested the compounder after registering a case based on an FIR lodged by the family,” Hazarika said, adding, “The truth will come to light following our investigation”.
On Monday morning, a group of irate tea garden workers staged a protest against the incident. Normalcy returned after the police had arrested the compounder. The child’s family as well as the workers felt he would have survived if he got treatment on time.