Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 07 July 2024
Fishermen Welfare Association of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has called for an urgent high-level inquiry into the death of Vimala, a 22-year-old woman from the Junglighat Fishermen Colony. Vimala passed away yesterday at G.B. Pant Hospital under what her family and community members are describing as suspicious circumstances.
According to reports, Vimala arrived at G.B. Pant Hospital at 8:15 AM seeking treatment for a fever. After a check-up, the attending physician reportedly did not admit her due to a lack of vacant beds, instructing her to wait in the casualty/emergency area. After waiting for several hours, her condition worsened, and she was administered an injection around 1:30 PM. Tragically, her condition deteriorated rapidly, and she died within 20-30 minutes of receiving the injection.
Vimala’s family, particularly her in-laws, are questioning the hospital’s handling of her case. They reported that hospital authorities attributed her death to Andaman Fever without conducting thorough blood tests or other diagnostic procedures. The family is distressed by the hospital’s explanation, arguing that Vimala arrived with a seemingly simple fever that did not receive proper and timely investigation or treatment.
Fishermen Welfare Association has expressed deep concern over the incident, highlighting a lack of faith in the hospital’s ability to provide an accurate cause of death and to conduct a transparent investigation. They demanded a medical board to investigate the allegation of Medical Negligence leading to the death. They also demanded that the medical board should only consist of senior doctors who are permanently employed. They further demanded that 2-3 doctors from Defence i.e ARMY/NAVY etc. should be part of the medical board and 2-3 doctors from Telugu Community to be included in Medical Board
The association also demanded that the postmortem be carried out by medical officers from the Andaman Nicobar Command/Defence Authorities, fearing that the hospital staff might conceal facts to protect their colleagues and the institution.
The association emphasized that this is not an isolated incident, pointing out a history of similar occurrences at G.B. Pant Hospital, which disproportionately affect the fishermen community of the islands.
The association underscored the personal tragedy for Vimala’s family, particularly her one-and-a-half-year-old son, who has lost his mother at such a tender age. They criticised the hospital staff for their alleged negligence, highlighting the profound impact on the family left behind.