Mumbai: Two doctors booked for death of woman, baby after C-section in Ghatkopar

The botched operation led to profuse bleeding and the woman’s death

Six years after a bungled caesarian procedure left a woman and her newborn baby dead, two doctors, then attached to Rajawadi Hospital, have been booked for causing death by negligence. Two panels of experts blamed the two resident medical officers for lapses during the C-section. No arrests have been made yet, said officers from the Tilak Nagar police station. In September 2016, Nashik resident Sohrab Ansari had taken his pregnant wife Rukhsana Khatoon to the civic-run hospital at Ghatkopar for treatment. She would regularly visit the hospital for follow-ups.

On the morning of September 20, Rukhsana went into labour, prompting Ansari to rush her to the hospital. Around 6.45 pm, Ansari was informed that his wife needed surgery and the hospital took his consent for it. Around 11 pm, he was told that the baby, a boy, was dead and they were trying to save his wife. "I was asked to bring 8 units of blood. The doctors said my wife's condition was critical. The next day at 6 am, they asked me to bring 8 more units saying my wife was sinking," said Ansari.

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At 8 am on September 21, Rajawadi doctors decided to shift Rukhsana to Sion hospital. Ansari said he was shocked when doctors at Sion hospital told him that C-section performed by Rajawadi doctors was botched and had resulted in profuse bleeding. Rukhsana died at Sion hospital on the morning of September 22.

The Tilak Nagar police station filed an accidental death report or ADR, but Ansari complained of lapses and demanded a probe. After being alerted by the police, experts from the BMC's health department and a medico-legal team from JJ Hospital went through the hospital case papers. Both committees, BMC and JJ, concluded that there had been negligence on the part of Dr Megha Dharmdasari and Dr Prabjyot Manchanda during the C-section which led to Rukhsana's death.

"As per the report and opinion issued by BMC and JJ's expert committee, we have registered an FIR against both the doctors. They have been booked under IPC section 304A [causing death by negligence] and 34 [common intention]," said Sunil Kale, senior inspector of Tilak Nagar police station. "We are trying to ascertain their whereabouts and will arrest them soon."

Rajawadi superintendent Dr Vidya Thakur said, "The doctors in question are not working with the hospital. They were residential medical officers." Ansari said the doctors deserve strict action. "My son and wife are gone due to the negligence of the doctors. They will not come back even if the doctors are hanged, but at least they will get justice."

22 Sept
Day in 2016 when the woman died