Jaipur: Elderly ‘jumps to death at hospital before testing negative for Covid

JAIPUR: A 78-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the second floor of Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS) Hospital, which is the main Covid-19 treatment facility in the city, on Wednesday morning. The man, suffering from asthma, was admitted to RUHS on Tuesday, after being referred from SMS Hospital. He was tested for Covid-19, the result of which came negative on Wednesday.
According to RUHS authorities, the man jumped after breaking the grill of a toilet window and died on the spot though the health staff tried to revive him. The family claimed that it was due to the carelessness of the hospital staff that the elderly man died and have registered a complaint against RUHS. Cops are investigating the matter.
The deceased was identified as Kailashchand Sharma, who was a resident of Jhotwara in Jaipur. He died around 11.30 am.
Purshottam Maheriya, SHO, Pratapnagar police station said, “It appears that Sharma was first taken to a government hospital after which he was referred to SMS Hospital and then finally admitted to RUHS. On Wednesday morning, he apparently jumped from the second floor of the building and died. There could be various reasons for this and although his Covid-19 report came to be negative, he was probably not aware of this and the phobia got to him, but it cannot be said with certainty.”
However, the family claimed that there was no reason for Sharma to take his own life and his grandson, Tapish told TOI, “My grandfather was admitted to hospital as he was having trouble breathing and though they administered oxygen at SMS Hospital, he was later referred to RUHS where we met him only once. On Wednesday morning, we were informed that he had died.”
The family also alleged that it was sheer carelessness on RUHS’s part due to which Sharma fell to his death and Tapish added, “There is no staff to take care of the patients and in fact, RUHS administration told us that he probably accidentally fell to his death. We have registered a complaint against them.”
Meanwhile, RUHS authorities have refuted these allegations and a doctor who did not wish to be named said, “The patient was suffering from hypertension and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He was admitted to semi-ICU ward which has all the facilities and adequate staff. In the morning, the patient went to the toilet and broke the grill from where he jumped.”
RUHS officials claimed that they are also seeking an internal report in the matter. Sharma’s body was handed over to the family after autopsy.