Victims’ families in Vivek Vihar tragedy struggle for normalcy

While the process of law takes its course, families continue to suffer from the aftermath of the tragedy. HT spoke to the families of two victims and two survivors to take stock of their situation

New Delhi

The health care facility, in the aftermath of the fire on May 25. (HT Archive)

Over a month since a fire at the Baby Care New Born Hospital in Vivek Vihar left six newborns dead and four injured, families of victims and survivors continue to struggle with an array of issues ranging from trauma and debt to anxiety and health complications.

The incident took place on May 25, when explosions of 32 oxygen cylinders due to the fire in the building blocked access and the infants had to be rescued by locals through a window in the rear, using ladders. Of the 12 babies, six died in the fire. A report by investigating authorities said the nursing home was functioning on an expired health licence and had no fire exit, equipment or safety measures.

Hospital owner Dr Naveen Khichi and caretaker doctor Dr Akash Singh were arrested a day later, and are still in judicial custody, with Delhi Police in the process of drafting a chargesheet against Khichi and his staff for allegedly causing death by negligence, putting human life in danger and violating the Delhi Nursing Home Registration Act. Police said statements of more than 16 staff members, 12 family members and neighbours were recorded.

While the process of law takes its course, families continue to suffer from the aftermath of the tragedy. HT spoke to the families of two victims and two survivors to take stock of their situation.

‘Costly hospitals forced treatment here’

In Sonia Vihar in northeast Delhi, 32-year-old Mithilesh Kumar and his wife Richa Devi held their one-month-old son close in their arms and called him “Agniveer” due to his “miraculous survival”. The baby, Shiv Kumar, was only six days old when the fire broke out. The couple has still not taken Shiv to their home town as they are scared that travel would impact his health.

Kumar, a food delivery executive, said they were trying to have a baby for 15 years and that they are now constantly worried and scared for Shiv.

“While Shiv was admitted to the nursing home, my wife was admitted to a clinic. We found out about the incident next day around noon from the news. My wife started shouting and crying. We made several calls but nobody responded. I first rushed to the mortuary and then went to the hospital to check on my baby. We thought we had lost him. I still can’t believe the doctors didn’t call us. My baby was in a fire and I didn’t even know…My wife still has nightmares,” he said.

The family had admitted Shiv to the nursing home because he weighed only 1.2kg at the time of the birth and needed to be monitored in a neonatal intensive care unit. “We asked for neonatal space but the doctors in Kirari, where he was born, only suggested expensive hospitals. We looked for multiple hospitals in Rohini, Karawal Nagar and Ghaziabad but they were charging over ₹18,000 per day,” he said.

Devi said a nurse told them about the Vivek Vihar nursing home and they decided to admit their baby there due to a relatively lower charge of ₹7,000 per day. The family said they have spent over ₹5 lakh on their baby since birth and Kumar, who is already in debt, had to go back home to Patna to take more loans from his friends.

“Devi gets anxious and doesn’t leave the baby for a second. After the fire, our baby was admitted to another private hospital by the police but my wife shouted at me and made me shift him to Chacha Nehru Hospital. Shiv was admitted there for 10 days and she didn’t leave the hospital even once. I begged her to come home, have lunch, take a rest or a bath. But she fought with me. When I went to Patna, Devi and the baby fell sick. I had to rush back,” he said.

‘Fire made us distrustful of pvt hospitals’

In UP’s Ghaziabad, 36-year-old Madhuraj Singh and his wife 30-year-old Suman Devi said they live in constant fear as their one-month-old baby, Shivansh, still suffers from breathing issues due to the smoke. They said the baby was admitted four days after he was born since it was a premature birth. Shivansh is the youngest of four siblings.

“I do painting work at commercial buildings in Noida, but I don’t have the money to support my family now. After the delivery in Ghaziabad, we asked doctors and neighbours but had no option for Shivansh. Even before naming him, we had to scout for hospitals in Delhi. There is no affordable neonatal care facility in Ghaziabad. We admitted Shivansh to the Vivek Vihar unnit because a friend recommended it. We had tried a private hospital in Lajpat Nagar but they asked for ₹5 lakh; I earn less than ₹20,000 a month…how could I afford it?” Singh said.

He said his wife didn’t wake up for a day after she found that their baby was in the fire. “She kept weeping for days till she was allowed to see our boy. She is still in shock. She is not able to work and keeps falling sick. We don’t trust private hospitals now, but it is difficult to get beds at government facilities. I had to travel from Ghaziabad to Delhi for two weeks after the fire as we had shifted our baby to another hospital,” he said.

Devi said she keeps having panic attacks if her baby falls sick or if doesn’t eat. “I still can’t forget when I saw the photos of the fire and the injured babies lying in a crib. I could identify mine. He was covered in smoke. His skin was peeled off. I felt I was going to die. He still has breathing issues,” she said.

‘Ease of admission shouldn’t be a factor’

Thirty-four-year-old Pawan Kumar, a constable with the UP Police, said their newborn, Laxmi, had almost recovered and was going to be discharged within a day before the fire claimed her life. The baby was only a week old when she was admitted to the NICU because of a stomach infection.

Kumar lives in Ghaziabad, where the baby was born on May 19 at a private hospital. The doctors told them about two other private hospitals with neonatal care units. “There was no space in the two hospitals they had shared. They then told us about the Vivek Vihar centre and we agreed,” Kumar said.

The family visited the baby every day and were satisfied with the treatment. “We used to meet Dr Sachin there. From the conversations, it always felt like he had knowledge. We never met Dr Khichi. We later learned that Sachin was also an ayurvedic doctor,” he said.

Kumar pointed out that he didn’t want to visit a government facility because of long queues and time-consuming formalities. “We didn’t even consider a government facility because one has to stand in long queues for admission and there is no transparency about treatment, even though there are good government facilities in Delhi,” he said, adding that the Vivek Vihar facility charged them about ₹13,000- ₹14,000 a day.

Their baby died after inhaling a lot of smoke, he said, adding that the family was trying to move on but they kept thinking about how a different hospital could have saved Laxmi’s life.

‘Strictest punishment must for wrongdoers’

Thirty-two-year-old Jyoti Kumar says not a day has gone by when she doesn’t miss her one-day-old son, who died in the fire. Her husband, Vinod Kumar, said he told Jyoti about the baby’s death after a week because she was hospitalised after the baby’s delivery and that she had yet to come to terms with the incident. The couple hardly talks about the incident as it saddens them.

Kumar is a businessman and the couple lives with their four children in Shahdara. He alleged that they were not given a choice by the private hospital to choose a neonatal centre for the baby’s care.

“The baby faced respiratory problems due to which the doctors there asked us to shift him to the Vivek Vivek nursing home, since the hospital did not have an NICU. At that time, all we cared about was saving our son and took him there. I never meet Dr Khichi. I hadn’t seen him till I saw his face on TV,” he said.

Inside the hospital, Kumar said, he remembered seeing multiple oxygen cylinders but didn’t bother at the time because he was worried about his son. He met two doctors and two nurses “who spoke like they had knowledge”.

Kumar, demanding the “strictest punishment” for Khichi, said: “He played with the lives of so many kids... broke families... he deserves to stay in jail.”

The couple broke down as they spoke about their one-day-old, who died before they could even name him.