Reshma Begum, a 28-year-old woman from Hyderabad, died on Monday, January 1, days after undergoing a tubal sterilisation procedure for family planning at Sakina Maternity and Children's Hospital in Kalapathar. With her husband alleging that she developed complications because the doctors botched the procedure, Sakina Hospital has been booked under Section 304A (causing death by negligence). Reshma, a resident of Shadnagar, had undergone a tubectomy – a surgical procedure where the fallopian tubes are clipped to prevent eggs from reaching the uterus from the ovaries – on December 17 and was discharged from the hospital the next day.
She developed complications a few days later, and her husband alleges that this was because the surgery was botched, as doctors from another hospital informed him that her small intestine had been cut. However, police said that doctors from Sakina said she fell sick due to jaundice, and that the government doctors who performed the autopsy said it appeared that she hadn’t been taking sufficient antibiotics as prescribed.
According to the FIR registered by Kalapather police based on Abdul’s complaint, Reshma was discharged from Sakina Hospital on December 18 after the tubectomy. A few days later, she fell sick and started to vomit severely. When the couple went back to Sakina Hospital on December 24, Abdul alleged that the hospital did not respond properly, and sent her away without placing her under observation. He then took Reshma to Sri Sai Ram Diagnostics at Shadnagar, where the doctors informed them that instead of a tubectomy, her small intestine had been cut. However, Kalapathar Inspector of Police Station P Dali Naidu said that the hospital did not communicate these observations in writing.
Abdul said he then admitted Reshma at Owaisi Hospital on December 26 for further treatment. “The doctors at Owaisi Hospital told Abdul that they can raise a complaint regarding a botched surgery, following which Abdul questioned the Sakina Hospital management,” Javeed, Abdul’s elder brother, told TNM. He added that when Reshma was taken to Sakina Hospital for a second time, no observations were recorded but the couple was charged Rs 3,500.
“Abdul works as a scrap collector. Someone suggested to him that Sakina Hospital charges around Rs 25,000 for the family planning operation, compared to the Rs 50,000 charged by another hospital in Shadnagar, which is why he chose to go there,” Javed said. “He did not receive any clear information from the Sakina Hospital management about how serious her condition was when they went back the second time. When Reshma was undergoing treatment at Owaisi Hospital, they even accepted their mistake and offered him Rs 2.5 lakh when he questioned them about her situation and offered to cover any medical expenses,” he alleged. Reshma passed away on January 1 while undergoing treatment at Owaisi Hospital.
Inspector Dali Naidu said that the police are awaiting the full autopsy report from the forensic laboratory before proceeding further. However, the doctors who performed the autopsy orally observed that Reshma seemed to have been suffering from jaundice, and was not taking sufficient antibiotics as prescribed after the surgery, he said.