A 22-year-old youth, who was denied treatment for a stab injury by 10 hospitals in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack for the past 15 days, was finally operated upon on Tuesday night after the Orissa Human Rights Commission (OHRC) intervened.
The OHRC took the action on an appeal by the victim’s brother.
The rights panel directed city-based hospital KIMS to take up the case and the victim was operated upon on Tuesday night.
According to petitioner Pabitra Nayak, a resident of Bhubaneswar, his brother, Ranjit Nayak, was stabbed by a neighbour over a mobile theft case at 6.30 p.m. on September 8.
After assessing his health condition, the Chandrasekhar police asked his parents to admit him in hospital at 7 p.m.
It was the beginning of an ordeal.
Human rights activist Pradip Pradhan said the victim, who was bleeding, was rushed to two government hospitals, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and Capital Hospital, and all six top private hospitals in the city, but was denied admission.
Throughout the intervening night of September 8 and 9, the family members ran from pillar to post, but nobody paid heed to them while the victim struggled in pain.
Similarly, they spent the whole of September 9 hopping from one hospital to another in Cuttack, including Odisha’s top referral hospital – SCB Medical College Hospital. They could not find a bed.
For the next one week, family members made repeated requests to different hospitals, but in vain. On September 22, the OHRC stepped in.
“We don’t know why hospitals in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack refused admission. The fear of COVID infection might have played a role. After six months of the pandemic, the government should have been prepared to handle such cases,” said Mr. Pradhan, who accompanied the family members to the OHRC.
The OHRC also directed the State government to conduct an inquiry into the allegations and submit a report by October 15. Hospitals were asked to respond to charges of the victim.