JAGATSINGHPUR: The husband of a woman, who died after a sterilisation surgery at the Erasama community health centre (CHC), on Sunday lodged an FIR with police accusing the doctor of wilful negligence after his bribe demand could not be met.
In his complaint, Trilochan Rout, the husband of Bindulata, alleged that Dr Pratap Keshari Rout demanded bribe before the surgery and when he refused, the latter conducted the procedure by violating norms. He said the doctor had no prior experience in conducting such surgeries and the CHC where the procedure was carried out lacked the required equipment.
“The doctor gave my wife a sedative injection at 11 am. Then he demanded bribe. When I refused, he deliberately delayed the surgery which was conducted at 7 pm on Friday,” Trilochan said. He further alleged to have witnessed a health staff using a bicycle pump to inflate Bindulata’s abdomen. “The CHC did not have the necessary equipment for the surgery.
"After her abdomen was inflated, Bindulata cried in pain and died minutes later. Dr Rout and the others who were assisting him fled soon after my wife died,” Trilochan stated in the FIR. Erasama IIC Prasant Kumar Majhi said a case under sections 302 and 34 of IPC has been registered against Dr Rout and a few other healthcare staff. The case is being investigated.
Bindulata’s death had sparked tension in the area as several residents of her village gheraoed the Erasama CHC on Saturday demanding compensation of Rs 20 lakh for her next of kin and action against the doctor. Following the agitation, the district administration declared compensation of Rs 4 lakh for the deceased’s family along with Rs 30,000 from the Red Cross fund and a house under a government scheme. Local MLA and Agriculture Minister Raghunandan Das too announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the deceased’s family.