ASHA worker dies after childbirth at illegal hospital in UP; nurse, assistant arrested

Sonbhadra: A nurse and her assistant were arrested following the death of an ASHA worker during childbirth at an illegally operated hospital in the Kon area of Sonbhadra, police said on Tuesday.

Circle Officer Amit Kumar said the operator of the unregistered Global Hospital and Surgical Centre in Kon area remains absconding, and a reward of Rs 25,000 has been declared for him.

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According to Kon Station House Officer Akhilesh Kumar Mishra, Seema Devi, 36, wife of Devnarayan and a resident of Bagesoti village, was admitted to the hospital on Friday for delivery. Following a surgical procedure, she gave birth to a baby boy but died shortly afterwards on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.

The SHO said the FIR was registered by Medical Officer and Nodal Officer Dr Kirti Anand Bind based on the complaint of the deceased woman's husband.

Family members alleged that Devi was initially taken to the Kachnarwa Primary Health Centre (PHC) and was later referred to the Kon Community Health Centre (CHC).

An ambulance under the 108 emergency service was made available for shifting her to the CHC.

However, the family alleged that the ambulance personnel did not take the patient to the government health facility and instead transported her to the unregistered Global Hospital and Surgical Centre, where the delivery was conducted.

District Magistrate Charchit Gaur said an inquiry and necessary action had been ordered into the woman's death at the illegally operated hospital.

He said preliminary information suggested that the patient had been referred from the PHC to the CHC, Kon, but was allegedly taken by ambulance staff to the unregistered private facility instead.

The District Magistrate said the doctor associated with the hospital fled following the woman's death. The body has been sent for post-mortem, and the hospital has been sealed, he said.

A case has been registered against the hospital operator and others, and further legal action is being taken, Gaur added.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party national secretary and former MLA Avinash Kushwaha alleged that private hospitals had become "centres of death" and accused the health department of failing to act against irregularities.

He claimed that deaths were repeatedly occurring in private hospitals across the district, but adequate action was not being taken.

Kushwaha submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate, demanding a thorough probe into private hospitals, strict action against those responsible for illegal surgeries and deaths, and accountability of health department officials.

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