Thursday, April 24, 2008

Mother And Daughter Die When Doctors Refuse Help

"AN "untouchable" woman who gave birth outside an Indian hospital because doctors would not treat her has died, a day after her baby, officials say.The newborn boy of Maya Devi, 28, died yesterday due to lack of medical help minutes after being born outside the maternity wing of Kanpur Medical College in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Devi was only put in intensive care after giving birth but she died of a heart attack early this morning. Several doctors, including the hospital's chief medical superintendent, had refused to touch her or provide medical care as she delivered her baby, the Press Trust of India reported. Devi was a Dalit, or "untouchable", a group at the bottom of the caste social ladder who have long been ostracised and forced into menial professions despite laws banning discrimination. Many high-class Hindus fear coming into contact with them. Dr Kiran Pandey, head of gynaecology at the hospital, said she was an hour's drive away in the state capital Lucknow at the time and rushed back. "We provided her the best medicines and treatment but she succumbed to two cardiac arrests," Dr Pandey said. College principal Anand Swaroop has ordered an inquiry, as has a district magistrate. The state's chief minister, Mayawati, who won elections last year, has ordered the doctors to be suspended and demanded an investigation."

Read here more about "untouchables."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a horrible thing to happen. Some people never cease to amaze me. How cruel they can be to others. Perhaps they need to be reminded of where they started from. Such a tragedy.

Matangi Mawley said...

tht was so horrible!
i dont understand how humans can stoop so low!

Buffy said...

That is such a sad story...I'm wordless!

Unknown said...

Gotta hand it to you, Tex. Even when I've seen a story you're offering already (this one in the NYT), it carries over more powerfully here.
And that's not counting all the electric, funny/horrific stuff I miss.
The more who realize something like this tragedy, the better chances such madness won't be tolerated.

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for comment, nytegoddessboo. The story was a real eye-opener to me.

The All Seeing Eye said...

And Matangi Mawley, this attitude is so normal in such a large part of our world.

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for your comment, Buffy. Your comment sums it the best.

The All Seeing Eye said...

Thanks for your kind words, Kathleenmaher. I wanted to post this story on my site as a way to also educate my readers as to what is going on in our world. Too many times we get caught up with how our own lives are not the best. We tend to forget that there are people a lot worse off than we are on our bad days...

Anonymous said...

how mean im in school so hahahahaha good info though for the untouchables there people too ya know? i mean damn they need to fucking be nice!!!