Covid patient jumps off 4thfloor of BHU hospital, dies

Varanasi: A 21-year-old Covid-19 patient jumped off the fourth floor of Sir Sunderlal hospital, Banaras Hindu University, late Sunday night and was rushed to the emergency ward where doctors declared him dead.
SS hospital’s medical superintendent Prof. S K Mathur said, “The deceased Ankit Pathak (21) of Kaitholi village in Phoolpur police station area was brought to the emergency wing of hospital on August 16. He was suffering from psychosis. He was admitted and kept in the holding area as per Covid protocol. When his corona test was conducted, he tested positive and was shifted to Covid ward.”
“He had tried to jump off at 11am also, but his attempt was foiled. The staff took him back to his bed and a counselling session was conducted. We had called Ankit’s family and advised them to take him home as it would benefit his mental health. But, the family refused to take him home and asked us to continue his treatment at the hospital,” he added.
SP City Vikas Chandra Tripathi said the patient’s body was handed over to the family after post-mortem and was cremated. The family has not given any complaint so far, he added.
Inspector Lanka Mahesh Pandey said, “BHU chief proctor informed us that a patient had jumped off the hospital’s fourth floor. He was rushed to the trauma centre but he could not be saved. The body was sent for postmortem examination after which it was handed over to the family.”
Ankit’s sister Priti Mishra and brother-in-law Kishan Mishra said, “The hospital administration informed us that he died after jumping off the fourth floor of hospital.”
His mother Madhuri alleged that she lost her son due to laxity of the hospital, but the family did not file any complaint in this regard.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma has sought details of the incident from the hospital and asked BHU administration to conduct an internal probe into the matter.