Chhattisgarh doctor sacked for demanding bribe for post-mortem of 2 children

Raipur: A shocking incident has come to light from Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district, where a contractual doctor at Raghunathpur Primary Health Centre (PHC) allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000 for each postmortem of two five-year-old boys who had drowned in a village pond.  

According to sources, when the grieving family couldn't arrange the money, the doctor reportedly refused to carry out the procedure, leaving the bodies to decompose for nearly three hours until local villagers intervened and pressured the administration to take action.

After the matter gained the attention of the media and the government, the state health department removed the doctor from his position for violating service rules and suspended a health department official posted in the area for negligence in connection with the incident.

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As per the PTI agency report, the incident took place on Sunday when two five-year-old cousins, Suraj Giri and Jugnu Giri, drowned in a small pond meant for fish rearing in Silsila Dhodha Jharia village in Lundra development block of Surguja district. Their family rushed them to the Raghunathpur PHC by motorcycle, but the boys were declared dead on arrival.

Following their death, a post-mortem was required, but when the family returned to the hospital early Monday morning, they faced an unexpected shock. The doctor on duty allegedly asked for Rs 10,000 per body to conduct the autopsy. This is something that is done free of cost under government rules. 

"On Monday, we arrived at the hospital around 7 am. But the doctor arrived around 9.30 am. The bodies started smelling. When I asked the doctor, he told me that he would have done the post-mortem on Sunday, free of cost, as per govt rules, but it would now cost Rs 10,000 each," one of the family members told TOI. 

However, the postmortems were subsequently conducted on Monday after local villagers put pressure on the administration. 

Taking action against the accused doctor, Surguja Collector Vilas Bhoskar, immediately ordered an inquiry into the bribe allegations. Based on the inquiry, Block Medical Officer (BMO) was suspended, and the contractual medical officer at the Raghunathpur PHC was removed from his position.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the Block Medical Officer committed negligence in discharging his duties. The contractual medical officer was found guilty of negligence, and his conduct was also against service rules. He was relieved of his duties and directed to immediately report to the Director, Health Services, in Raipur.

Collector Bhoskar inspected Raghunathpur PHC and later visited the homes of the two kids, where he met their family members and expressed condolences. He announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased under disaster management rules.

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