Woman who tried to kill self over financial condition gets ₹4L hospital bill

The woman’s father said he found his daughter hanging from the ceiling fan on December 10, with a note on her bedside saying that she was disturbed by the poor financial condition of her family.

A 36-year-old woman, who attempted to die by suicide because of her family’s poor financial condition, has accrued a medical bill of nearly ₹4 lakh for her treatment at a private hospital.

The woman is currently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital and recuperating. The family said she is conscious, but extremely upset. (Representational Photo)

The woman’s father said he found his daughter hanging from the ceiling fan on December 10, with a note on her bedside saying that she was disturbed by the poor financial condition of her family. The family, with the help of some neighbours, first rushed her to a government hospital but the delay in treatment made them take her to a private hospital in south Delhi instead.

“We were asked to deposit ₹75,000, then the hospital asked for another ₹10,000. We somehow managed to pay this amount by borrowing money from our relatives and neighbours. Now the medical bill has come to around ₹4 lakh. We do not know how we will pay this,” said the woman’s father.

The woman is currently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital and recuperating. The family said she is conscious, but extremely upset. “When we brought her to the hospital, the doctors told us that if we were even five minutes late, she would not have survived. We were desperate for her to get medical attention to save her life and now the family is suffering for it. All the doctors are listening to us and they say that they understand what we are going through but no one is giving us any solution. She wakes up and cries to be discharged. Every day in the hospital is adding to the bill,” ha neighbour of the family said.

The family has requested the hospital to waive the bill, and help shift her to a government facility where the rest of her treatment can be completed.

“She hanged herself because we are unable to meet our day-to-day needs, and now we have been slapped with this medical bill. Our priority is that she gets well and then we will see if the hospital administration can help us or if we can find any other way to arrange the money,” the father said.

The woman’s family comprises her husband, three-year-old son and her parents.

The said hospital’s website mentions that it has the provision to treat economically weaker sections (EWS), with a dedicated helpdesk only for such patients, reserved beds and a nodal officer to handle these patients. The website mentions that as of December 16, the hospital had 28 beds allocated for EWS patients—19 for non-critical and nine for critical patients—of which 11 beds set aside for non-critical patients and two set aside for critical patients were free.

A spokesperson of the hospital did not respond to requests seeking comment.