Mumbai:
In a tragic culmination of an appalling incident, the tuberculosis patient at the Sewree hospital who was being neglected by staff members as chastisement following his several attempts to flee its premises, passed away on Friday.
Forty-year-old Pradeep Wadekar was diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) six years ago, and subsequently admitted to ward number 15 at the TB Hospital in Sewree.
In course of his prolonged stay at the hospital, he had made as many as three attempts to flee its premises, much to the consternation of the staff members, who took it as a slight.
MiD DAY had reported on the man's predicament last Tuesday.
The family members of the deceased have alleged that his medical condition had deteriorated after hospital staff members started punishing him for his habit of running away.
Staff members had consigned Wadekar to a bed at the farthest corner of the ward, where he was left to himself, as his unwashed clothes gathered blood and sputum stains.
Speaking to MiD DAY, a grieving Namita, Wadekar's sister, said, "I have lost my brother because of the negligence of the hospital staff members.
My brother's health was improving gradually, but after he attempted to flee the hospital premises again earlier this month, they decided to punish him in this cruel manner.
They cleaned him up once we complained about them to MiD DAY, but soon went back to their negligent ways. I will approach the Health Ministry and lodge a complaint against the hospital."
The other sideRajendra Nanawre, the medical superintendent of the hospital, did not respond to repeated phone calls and messages.