Kasaragod:
A two-and-a-half-year-old girl, suspected to be a victim of the harmful effects of Endosulfan pesticide, died on Thursday allegedly after she failed to receive timely medical care in a government-run hospital in Kerala's Kasaragod district.
Prajitha was taken to the Kasaragod General Hospital after she complained of breathlessness.
As the child specialist was on leave, her parents were told to take her to the doctor's clinic.
The doctor allegedly asked for 100 rupees as consultation fee but instead of treating the child immediately, he asked Prajitha's parents to go back to the govt hospital saying he would soon be there.
The parents waited for almost four hours but the doctor didn't show up.
"We gave the doctor the fee he asked. Then we admitted our child at the government hospital at 4.45 pm. Till 8 pm the doctor did not turn up. Soon she started vomiting blood," said Sasidharan, Prajitha's father.
As Prajitha's condition worsened, her parents took her to a private hospital but it was too late by then.
"The Health Minister has been given a detailed report. We demand stern action. Such incidents should not repeat in future," said P Karunakaran, MP, Kasaragod.
The incident sparked widespread protests in Kasaragod that has so far seen nearly 400 deaths due to Endosulfan poisoning.
The protests forced the government to suspend the doctor but that's cold comfort for an inconsolable mother whose child may have been saved had she got timely medical help.