Pregnant woman loses child in Raj as doctors refuse treatment over religion

A 32-year-old woman in Rajasthan's Bharatpur district lost her baby after doctors at a government hospital allegedly turned her away on learning that she was a Muslim.

The woman's husband, Irfan Khan, alleged that his wife had to deliver their child in an ambulance after the doctors refused to treat her.

Meanwhile, a probe has been ordered into the incident by Rajasthan Health Minister and Bharatpur MLA Subhash Garg.

Khan told reporters that he took her wife to a healthcare centre in Sikri area on Friday night due to intense labor pain from where they were referred to RBM Zenana Hospital citing that the case was complicated.

 

I reached the district hospital on Saturday morning where a lady doctor asked me about my details. She said that you are a Muslim and you cannot be treated here. She asked another doctor to refer us to Jaipur, he said.

I moved out of the hospital with my wife. My wife delivered in an ambulance and my baby died due to negligence of doctors, Khan said.

He also alleged that he was being pressured to deny the discrimination charges to the panel probing the incident.

Health Minister Subhash Garg said the matter is being investigated by a team of the district administration.

I have asked the district collector to get the matter inquired. Action will be taken against whosoever is guilty. It is a painful incident, he said.

Without divulging much information about the case, Bharatpur's principal medical officer Navdeep Singh Saini said the matter is being investigated by a panel.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh in a series of tweets blamed his own Congress government for suppressing the truth.

It is clear from the videos that the government is trying to suppress the truth. I am cabinet minister and do not speak without proof. Please do not cover up, he said in a tweet tagging former state-cadre IAS officer Arvind Mayaram.

In another tweet, Singh said, The Jamaat was/is a national disaster and hazard. But innocent muslims suffering like this is painful. It does not mean that citizens of Islamic faith are treated the way a pregnant lady was handled by doctors in Bharatpur.