Crime

Woman forced to deliver on road in sub zero temperature after Lal Ded hospital refuses to admit her, baby dies

Srinagar: A woman was forced to deliver her baby on the road in Srinagar after authorities at the Lal Ded hospital, the biggest maternity hospital of the valley, refused her stay overnight and didn’t admit her on Thursday.

According to a report by the Indian Express, Suraya Begum, who is from a remote village called Mooree in Kupwara district delivered a girl around 8.30 pm.

According to the local Meteorological Department, the temperature in Srinagar was recorded at -0.7 degrees Celsius on Thursday night.

The baby died soon after birth.

Hami Zaman, brother of Suraya told the newspaper that his sister had developed labour pain on Thursday at home. With nearly 3-feet snow in the area, the road between Mooree and Kalaroos, where the nearest hospital is located, were not motorable. “Around 15 people put my sister on a charpoy and we walked for six hours to reach the hospital (in Kalaroos, around 14 km away),” he said.

Doctors there referred her to Kupwara hospital, from where she was referred further to Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar.

At Lal Ded, the family said, Suraya was kept under observation for a few hours. Hospital authorities subsequently refused to admit her.

Zaman said, “At around 8.30 pm, my sister developed severe pain again and delivered a baby girl on the road. The newborn died immediately,” Zaman said.

Dr Shabir Siddique, Medical Superintendent of Lal Ded has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

PDP chief while expressing shock over the incident said:


Apart from negligence on part of the hospitals, new born babies have been abandoned too.

Recently, an abandoned new born girl was found dead in Rajbagh area of Srinagar. The spot where the body was found, is across the road from the maternity hospital Lal Ded.

In one instance in 2015, a dead newborn was carried to Press Enclave by a dog. Last year, a newborn baby was found abandoned near Bahuddin Ganj Baksh Park at Nowhatta locality.

ALSO READ: Shocker: Dead baby, covered in mud, found lying in Srinagar, police registers FIR

New born babies have been left abandoned in hospitals too. Three abandoned neonates, two among them females, were taken into custody by Lal Ded hospital. Also, two more new-borns, both females were abandoned inside the hospital.

There are more heart-wrenching cases of abandoned babies already existent in the valley.

In some instances, they have been left on roadsides, dumped in the backyard of the hospitals or wrapped in polythene bags. The investigations have not revealed any details about parents of these newborns till date.

Recently, Manzoor Ahmed Bonyari, a resident of Shopian district of south Kashmir, tried to bury his baby alive but was caught red-handed by the locals.

He had claimed that he didn’t have money to take of the condition of the baby. The baby was born a few days ago in LD Hospital and is suffering from a tumor.

Secretary Social Welfare Department Dr Farooq Lone had said the government will take care of the child.

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