Dengue and suicide case: Congress hits out at Centre, AAP

New Delhi, Sep 13: Congress today attacked Centre and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the suicide of a couple after their seven-year-old son died of dengue, saying the two were "squabbling like children" when a child died due to lack of treatment in the national capital.

"Is this the treatment given to aam aadmi (common man) jointly by Kejriwal and Delhi Lieutenant Governor (Najeeb Jung), who are fighting like children when a child dies fighting disease in absence of hospital beds in the Delhi.

"Cheap politics between Centre and Delhi government is reprehensible and condemnable," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters here.

The couple, Laxmichandra and Babita Rout-- both natives of Odisha, committed suicide by jumping from a four-storeyed building in south Delhi's Lado Sarai on Wednesday morning, a day after their only son Avinash died of suspected dengue.

The parents of the boy had knocked at the doors of five private hospitals throughout September 7 before being given admission at 11 PM by Batra hospital where he breathed his last the next day.

The five hospitals including Max hospital in Saket, Moolchand Khairatiram Hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Aakash Hospital in Malviya Nagar have been issued show cause notices to explain within a month why their registration should not be cancelled for allegedly refusing to admit the boy, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said. The other two hospitals are Saket City Hospital and Irene Hospital, Kalkaji.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said strict action will be taken against the hospitals which refused admission to the boy.

"It is completely unacceptable that some hospitals didn't accept a patient and he died. Strict action would be taken against them," he tweeted.

Rejecting to Kejriwal's remarks, Singhvi said the Chief Minister should understand that only making statements won't work.

"Hospitals are directly under your supervision. In the national capital, a healthy child dies one day due to a disease and parents have to commit suicide. You are spending Rs 700 crore on advertisements. You could have given at least Rs 70 crore of this to Delhi hospitals to save such lives."

"On the one hand Centre and Delhi government are engaged in making allegations and counter-allegations and are playing politics, on the other hand such deaths happen," he said condemning the incident.

PTI