After Surgery Goes Awry, Father Seeks Mercy Killing for His 12-Year-Old Daughter

Upreti, a resident of Uttarakhand has pleaded mercy killing for his daughter, born with dorsal kyphosis, a condition that causes abnormal curvature of spine.

Twelve-year-old Rani’s father Govind Upreti has approached the district magistrate of Udham Singh Nagar seeking mercy killing for his daughter as he did not want to see her suffer.

Upreti, a resident of Bhagwanpur village in Uttarakhand, has pleaded that his daughter, born with dorsal kyphosis, a condition that causes abnormal curvature of the spine, underwent surgery at a private hospital in Dehradun under the National Rural Health Mission in April last year. The procedure went horribly wrong. While his daughter could earlier take care of herself and even cycle, she was left paralyzed waist-down by the surgery. He no longer has the means to take care of her, and did not want to see her suffer, Upreti has pleaded.

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After a group of protesters sought action against doctors responsible for the girl’s condition, the district administration made arrangements to release Rs 10,000 to the family from Red Cross Fund to facilitate a check-up in Delhi.

Udham Singh Nagar district magistrate Pankaj Pandey said, "We told them to get a medical examination done. For further help, I have forwarded the request and sought action from the chief minister’s office."

Upreti, 38, works as a laborer and earns a daily wage. He said his daughter could, despite the abnormal spine, attend to her own needs and even cycle to school. But after the operation, she has been left crippled, a complete invalid.

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"I hoped my child could be cured, and we did everything we could for the operation. If the government cannot help now, she should be allowed to go to sleep for good," the father said.

The Uttarakhand Human Rights Commission on June 2 issued notices to the chief medical officers of Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar and the medical superintendent of Himalayan Hospital, Deharadun, seeking a reply in six weeks on the allegation of medical negligence at the private hospital in Dehradun.

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The office of the director general, health and family welfare department, on June 20 wrote to the additional director of the department, seeking that he look into the matter of the 12-year-old girl.

The June 20 letter reads, "The case of this child comes under National Health Mission, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram and arrangements for her treatment can be made free of cost."

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Social activist Gurvinder Singh Chaddha had taken the matter to the state human rights commission on May 26 this year, alleging negligence on the part of medical staff at the Dehradun private hospital.

Repeated attempts to contact the private hospital for comments in the matter proved futile.

Source-Medindia