Kin blame doctor for boy’s death in Madhya Pradesh, say he was busy with puja

Sanjay Pandey said he rushed his son to the Arogya Kendra in Bargi at around 10am on Wednesday with his son, who was suffering from diarrhoea, but the doctor did not show up.

Updated on: Sep 1, 2022, 15:51:05 IST

By Shruti Tomar

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A five-year-old boy died in his mother’s lap at Bargi in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur district allegedly for the want of treatment as the on-duty doctor at a health centre was busy at home with a special puja.

The boy’s uncle said his nephew died because he did not get treatment (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Sanjay Pandey, a resident of Tinhata village, said he rushed his son to the Arogya Kendra in Bargi at around 10am on Wednesday with his son, who was suffering from diarrhoea. He said Lokesh Kumar, the doctor, did not show up even as they waited for hours after a nurse informed them that he was busy.

Pawan Kumar, the boy’s uncle, said his nephew died because he did not get treatment. “We came to know that Lokesh Kumar was busy with the special puja at home because his wife was fasting that day.” He blamed poor health facilities for the boy’s death

Congress leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath attacked the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government after a photo of the boy’s distraught family went viral on social media. “It is shocking that people are dying without treatment. This is a failure of the state government and the health minister should resign.”

Jabalpur district collector Illayaraja T claimed the doctor was on duty and that the boy was brought to the health centre after he had died. “The doctor informed the family about the death but they were not ready to accept this fact. The boy had burn injuries in one leg...infection spread due to burn injuries.”

The matter came to light after much outrage over poor health facilities in the state as a video went viral on Wednesday and showed a man carrying his pregnant wife to a hospital on a handcart in Damoh.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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