Aman Sharma, 6, is the second child to die of dengue after being refused admission by hospitals
At around 2.30 am on Saturday night, six-year-old Aman, diagnosed with dengue and suffering from high fever, was nowhere near a hospital or a doctor. He was on a bike, shivering, as his father hunted for any hospital that would take him in.
Hours later, Aman died. "I could do nothing to save my son," said Manoj Sharma.
Aman's parents say he was doomed the moment he was turned away by the central government-run Safdarjung hospital four days before. "They said take him home, he doesn't have dengue. Because they refused to admit my son, he did not get treatment for 24 hours," said Mr Sharma.
Aman, whose family stays in south Delhi, had tested positive for dengue on September 10, Thursday, by a private hospital that told his family to take him immediately to the Safdarjung hospital.
The boy was fine, advised Safdarjung, which has 1,500 beds - 60 more in emergency - though it receives some 10,000 patients every day.
The child's condition improved slightly before plunging drastically.
This time, the family took Aman to the Jeevan Nursing Home, which treated him for a little over a day. Late on Saturday night, the hospital told the family it did not have equipment, and the child had to be taken elsewhere.
Aman was taken to the Moolchand hospital, which said it had no beds. Two other private hospitals also refused to admit the child.
Hours later at around 4 am, the family went back to the Safdarjung hospital, which admitted the boy this time, but allegedly left him unattended for over an hour.
Exhausted, Aman's parents took him to the Holy Family hospital where he died at 8.30 on Sunday morning.
The Safdarjung hospital claims the boy was admitted for half an hour, and that it had asked the family to wait but they had left.
The case has emerged exactly a week after another child, seven-year-old Avinash, died after being repeatedly turned away. After he died, his parents jumped off the fourth floor of a building. The Delhi government has ordered an investigation and summoned private hospitals.