Uttar Pradesh: Accident victim dies as doctor talks on phone, argues with cop

BAREILLY: A 48-year-old woman who sustained injuries in a road accident in UP’s Badaun district died for want of medical attention after precious time was lost when the doctor at the community health centre (CHC) she was taken to allegedly refused to see her as he was "busy on his phone" and later got into a 20-minute-long argument with the sub-inspector who had brought her.
A video of the incident that occurred on Monday has drawn flak on social media following which Badaun SSP Sankalp Sharma raised the matter with district magistrate Kumar Prashant. The DM told TOI further action would be taken after looking at the autopsy report. “If the death is due to negligence, appropriate action will be taken against those responsible,” he said.
The footage purportedly shows the doctor arguing with the cop instead of attending to the injured woman. Sub-inspector Sushil Panwar at Ughaiti police station who drove the woman to the CHC told TOI he got into an argument with the doctor after the latter remained glued to his phone and refused to come out of his room at the Bilsi CHC despite repeated requests.
The victim, Rambeti, was travelling on a motorcycle along with her son, Manoj, and nephew, Amit Kumar, in Badaun when an unidentified vehicle hit them, said the SI, adding that her critically injured nephew was shifted to a higher medical facility while he took the woman and her son to the CHC. The son is recovering at the centre. The family is yet to file a complaint.
The policeman said, “The doctor’s behaviour was callous and unacceptable. When I asked him to hurry up and look at the patient whose condition was deteriorating, he said accident cases were all too common in the area and there was no need to worry.”
Meanwhile, chief medical superintendent of Badaun Yashpal Singh said he was not aware of the issue. “I will look into it and order a probe if needed.”