4-year-old falls off stairs and dies at GMCH, Jammu; kin allege doctors’ negligence

Victim’s mother says he was shifted to isolation ward on the pretext of being Covid positive where he passed away without being attended to

The death of a four-year-old child who fell off the stairs at his house and later succumbed to his injuries at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here on Friday, triggered vociferous protests by his kin on Saturday.

The victim’s mother said, “We rushed our son the to government hospital, Sarwal, where doctors asked us to take him to GMCH. At the GMCH doctors didn’t attend him properly and then deliberately declared him Covid positive. They shifted him to isolation ward where he passed away.”

“He was not provided proper medical treatment. Though he was critical , he was not provided ventilator and later shifted to isolation ward on ‘flimsy grounds’. Later, he was taken to the graveyard in secrecy,” alleged the victims’ mother, adding that the Covid test came out negative.

Additional district commissioner Ghanshyam Singh said he had gone to the hospital to pacify the family. Repeated calls to hospital authorities went unanswered.