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54-year-old woman dies by suicide in Covid isolation ward of Shimla hospital
Woman was hospitalised after she tested positive on September 18; her son says she was suffering from hypertension also; first case of suicide by Covid patient in hospital in Himachal Pradesh
A 54-year-old woman, diagnosed with coronavirus infection, hung herself in the isolation ward of Deen Dayal Upadhaya Hospital here on Wednesday.
This is the first case in the state where a Covid patient has committed suicide in a hospital, police said.
A resident of Chaupal in Shimla district, she tested positive for Covid-19 on September 18, after which she was referred to the hospital and admitted to the isolation ward, police said. The victim, a widow, hung herself from a balcony of the hospital with a dupatta (scarf) around 12.05am and was found dead by hospital staff who informed the police and her son.
Her son said she was suffering from hypertension and frequent headaches, for which she was being treated at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. He said he did not suspect foul play. However, he said the staff had been negligent and demanded that an FIR be registered against the hospital.
“My mother was killed due to negligence. No doctors had attended her since her hospitalisation on September 18. The staff had refused to attend her in the isolation ward saying they cannot use a personal protective equipment (PPE) kit for a single patient. She was traumatised with the treatment meted out to her by hospital staff,” he said.
Negligence allegations grow shriller
Multiple patients and their family members have levelled allegations of negligence against different hospitals in the state since the outbreak of the virus. A Covid patient who was hospitalised at Indira Gandhi Medical College died after he took a fall on September 10.
His family members had alleged that the patient had been neglected. Not just laymen but politicians have also complained that the staff were negligent.
Himachal Pradesh jal shakti minister Mahender Singh Thakur, a senior minister in the state cabinet, had left IGMC alleging the staff were negligent after he had tested positive.
If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. You can reach Mental Health and Rehabilitation Centre, Boileauganj, Shimla, at 0177-2633601 or visit www.hhmhrshimla.org.