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Budaun CMO ‘in the eye of storm’, suspended for negligence
Earlier, two doctors were arrested for allegedly removing a woman’s eyes during her post-mortem examination at the mortuary of the government medical college in Budaun
LUCKNOW After two doctors were arrested for allegedly removing a woman’s eyes during her post-mortem examination at the mortuary of the government medical college in Budaun, the UP government on Friday suspended Budaun chief medical officer (CMO) over alleged negligence in the case, said officials.
The action came after UP deputy chief minister and health minister Brajesh Pathak took serious note of the incident and ordered stern action against those responsible for the incident.
“CMO Dr Pradeep Varshney has been placed under suspension and attached to the office of Director General of Medical and Health Services in Lucknow till further orders,” Pathak posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Varshney was allegedly found negligent in discharging his official responsibilities and duties. The deputy CM also asked the additional director of Bareilly to collect details of doctors and other personnel who conducted the post-mortem examination of the woman’s body on December 11.
The body of the woman, Pooja Devi, 20, was found hanging at her in-laws’ house in the Mujaria area’s Rasula village on Sunday. Her family alleged she was killed by her in-laws for dowry, said officials.
The controversy erupted on December 12, when the maternal family members of the deceased found that both the eyes were missing from the woman’s body and reported the matter to the police. The Budaun police were probing the case.
Earlier, inspector in-charge of Civil Lines police station, Gaurav Bishnoi had informed that two Provincial Medical Services (PMS) doctors - Dr Mohammed Owais and Dr Arif Hussain - who had conducted the post-mortem examination of the woman’s body, were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the case.
On the complaint of the woman’s brother on Tuesday, an FIR was registered against unidentified persons at Budaun’s Civil Lines police station on charges of organ trade, he added.
The inspector further said the report of medical experts over the ‘missing eyes case’ was expected on Friday, but could not be filed due to some reasons. He said it will be clear in the report whether the eyes were removed by somebody or it was the act of some “reptile-like creature”.
Reptiles had gouged out eyes of a body from the mortuary on June 6, 2022, he added.
The police action invited sharp criticism from the doctors’ association that questioned the doctors’ arrest when a magisterial inquiry was already pending. PMS Doctors’ Association president Dr Amit Kumar Varshney met district magistrate Manoj Kumar on Wednesday and expressed his displeasure over “doctors being treated as criminals and arrested before completion of magisterial probe.”
