Congress leader Shobha Oza on Thursday demanded a judicial investigation in the sterilization surgeries case in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur District, which has resulted in the death of 13 women till now.
"The state government had always reacted by suspending doctors and initiating such enquiry. They are just trying to suppress the case. We don't believe in this enquiry being done by the state government. We want judicial investigation in this case," said Oza.
"The health minister should be suspended, as it is the third case under her tenure. The entire health ministry and state government are involved in this malpractice," she added.
Earlier today, Doctor R K Gupta, who conducted sterilization surgeries on 85 women in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur District, was taken into custody.
Gupta had been suspended on Tuesday on the orders of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh after the incident came to light. He has blamed the state administration for the botch up, a television channel has reported. Placing the onus squarely on the state administration, he said that he was pressurized into meet surgery-related targets.
Earlier it was reported that the death toll in the sterilization tragedy rose to 13 with the death of another woman.
More than 50 women, who were left in a critical state after undergoing sterilization operations, are undergoing treatment at four different hospitals in Bilaspur.
A team of doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is in Bilaspur to attend to critical patients.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier spoken to Raman Singh and expressed his concern over the incident, and asked him to ensure a thorough investigation.
Out of the 85 women who were operated upon at the government-run Nemi Chand hospital in the Pendari area of Bilaspur as part of a family planning camp almost 55 suffered due to the sterilization surgery.
The government has ordered an investigation into the incident and announced a compensation of Rs. two lakh each for the next of kin of the eight deceased women.
