Chhattisgarh Surgeon sentenced to two-year jail in 2014 sterilisation deaths case
Bilaspur: A Chhattisgarh surgeon has been sentenced to two years of jail term in connection with the deaths of 12 women in 2014 after botched sterilisation surgeries conducted at a government-run camp at a private hospital.
The court of the First District and Additional Sessions Judge Shailesh Kumar Ketarap on Tuesday convicted the surgeon under the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and awarded him two years of imprisonment, Additional Public Prosecutor Devendra Rao Somawar said on Wednesday, news agency PTI reported.
In addition, the court imposed a fine of ₹25,000 for each of the 12 deaths, he said.
The court also sentenced him under additional charges, awarding six months' imprisonment with a fine of ₹500 under one section, and one month's jail with a fine of ₹100 under another. All sentences will run concurrently, he said.
The case dates back to a sterilisation camp held on November 8, 2014, at a private hospital in Pendari near Sakri village in Takhatpur block of Bilaspur district. A total of 83 women from nearby rural areas were brought to the camp for sterilisation procedures, he said.
According to the prosecution, the accused, who was then a senior surgeon at the district hospital, conducted all the surgeries within a span of about three hours. Soon after the operations, the women fell ill and were admitted to different hospitals, including district and CIMS hospitals in Bilaspur, where 12 of them died, reports PTI.
The prosecution said the deaths were linked to alleged negligence during surgeries, leading to septicaemia, as well as controversy over contaminated post-operative medication.
Following an investigation, the police had filed a chargesheet against a surgeon and five individuals associated with two drug supply firms. However, the court acquitted all five accused linked to the pharmaceutical firms due to a lack of evidence, he said.
Since the sentence awarded to the surgeon is less than three years, the court granted him bail as per legal provisions, the prosecutor added.
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