A two-and-a-half-month-old girl in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol died late on Saturday after a quack branded her with a hot iron rod, police said on Sunday – in a second such instance in the district that led to the termination of two people.
Shahdol superintendent of police Kumar Prateek said a probe is underway into the deaths.
“The infants’ deaths took place due to medical negligence in the past one week. So the services of two Asha workers and sahayikas of two villages were ended with immediate effect,” chief medical health officer Dr RS Pandey said.
“A show cause notice has been issued to block medical officer Dr Y K Paswan,” Pandey added.
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The chief medical and health officer, women and child development officer and district immunisation officer visited the affected villages.
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The chief medical and health officer, women and child development officer and district immunisation officer visited the affected villages.
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“Serious negligence from the field staff as well as the development block level staff-officers came to the fore during the visit,” Pandey said.
The parents of the infants and villagers sought a fair probe into the deaths.
“We did not find any doctor in the village so we went to a local healer. Later, we rushed our daughter to a private hospital where she died. I want a fair probe into the matter,” Sonu Kol, who lost her child on Saturday, said.
The body of the three-month-old baby, who died on Wednesday during her “treatment” for pneumonia, was exhumed on Saturday for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of her death.
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.
