Doctor’s bribe not paid; Dalit woman gave birth under tree
July 14, 2007
Jagatsinghpur (Orissa in India), SVM News, July 12, 2007: Doctor refused attention insistant on his bribe, a poor dalit woman gave birth to a child under a tree in Orissa in India on 10th of July.
The shocking incident took place near the government hospital in the coastal Jagatsinghpur district, around 100 km fromBhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa on Tuesday. It came to light on Wedneday after the women’s husband lodged a police complaint against the doctor.
Ranju Sethi, 23, was the woman came from Jhimani village to the Community Health Centre at Kujang town with her husband after she started experiencing labour pains.
Abhaya Kumar Dash, a doctor at the centre, demanded Rs.2,000 to admit the woman to the hospital, but the poor family failed to pay that fees.
“When I expressed my inability to pay the amount the doctor abused us and refused to admit my wife in the hospital,” woman’s
husband Gandhrab Sethi said to the police. “Finally my wife could not bear the labour pain and delivered a baby under a tree outside the hospital,” he continued.
“It is government-run Comunity Health Center and doctor gets a good figure as salary from the government. So we never not he would ask bribe from the poor dalit villager like me,” Gandhrab Sethi told to the Salem Voice Ministries (SVM) News Service.
Dr. Abhaya Kumar Dash Dash fled the scene after some 200 locals demanded action.
Dr. Binod Kumar Mishra, the Superintendent of the hospital said that they are investigating the case and a report will be submitted to the chief district medical officer within two days.
