Infant left to die over Rs 200 in Punjab hospital

Jalandhar, Jul 26: An infant girl has died in civil hospital here after the medical staff allegedly took her off life support as the girl's father was unable to pay Rs 200 for the same, family sources said today.

Sanjeev Kumar, the father of the victim, alleged that medical staff of the civil hospital removed his five-days-old daughter from the life supporting system after he failed to pay Rs 200 as its charges.

"My wife Anita gave birth to a girl child in civil hospital on Jul 21. The child was detected with jaundice and later shifted to emergency ward on life support system," Sanjeev told reporters here today.

"Nurses told me to deposit two hundred rupees as its charge. I was unable to pay the money. Later, they removed my daughter from the system that resulted in her death last night," he claimed.

When contacted, Medical Superintendent Iqbal Singh said that he was not aware of the incident as he was out of station to participate in a meeting related to NRHM.

He said that he would look into the case and tough action would be taken against the guilty. Meanwhile, Punjab Health minister Madan Mohan Mittal today expressed shock over the incident and said that an inquiry will be initiated into the incident while assuring that the results of the probe would come within two weeks.

PTI