The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday said it has issued notice to the Rajasthan government over reports of a newborn being decapitated in a botched delivery in Jaisalmer’s Ramgarh last week. The commission called it a “shocking case of medical negligence”.
The commission, taking suo motu cognisance, issued the notice to the chief secretary calling for a report within four weeks with the health status of the mother and action taken against the doctor and the hospital staff.
The parents alleged that a nurse at a government hospital had pulled out the newborn with immense force during the delivery, decapitating the child. The hospital authorities then allegedly hid the part of the body they had pulled out, and sent the woman to another hospital in Jodhpur with the baby’s head still inside the womb. The Rajasthan Police on Friday arrested the nurse, Amrit Lal, while his coworker, Jhujhaar Singh is absconding,
The human rights panel said if the reports are true, then the incident amounts to violation of human rights of the newborn and the mother and indicate “gross negligence by the doctor and the nursing staff”. “The entire incident requires to be probed thoroughly to determine the real cause so that necessary steps could be taken to ensure that such gruesome incidents do not recur in future,” it added.
The commission said the State Medical and Health department put the doctor concerned on “Awaiting Posting Order” and placed the two nurses under suspension for their negligence after news of the incident was widely shared.
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