A resident of IIM-C’s Joka campus, 23-year-old Chanda Devi was admitted in the maternity ward on November 22.

“A doctor visited her initially, but thereafter, no medical staff appeared. She had gone into labour and in the evening, when she could not stand the pain any more, she called me on phone,” said Dharmendar K Paswan, her husband. A lawyer-clerk at Alipore Criminal Court, Paswan said his mother-in-law visited the ward to find out what was wrong.

“I saw my daughter lying on the floor in a pool of blood, unattended. The baby was already crowning,” said Bimala Devi. “I helped Chanda deliver, shouting for help all the time, which came way later.”

“When I reached the place, the staff manning the ward accused me of giving my wife a cellphone against the rules. Then they took me upstairs to my wife. She was still lying on the floor with the child, bleeding heavily,” said Paswan.

The relatives said it was over two hours after she gave birth that a doctor finally attended to her. The day after, Chanda was taken to a private hospital. On Monday, her family handed a written complaint to the hospital superintendent and threatened to take legal measures unless they took action. “A team of senior doctors and officials will look into the matter. If anyone is found guilty, action will be taken,” said Dr A K Mondol, the superintendent.

Negligence cases
* October 2008: Staff at SSKM hospital was accused of refusing to attend to an asthma patient and demanding Rs 40. The patient died as his oxygen mask was removed.
* September 2008: Relatives of a patient clashed with doctors and police at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital. They alleged that the patient had been administered an injection following which, she died on her way home.
* March 2008: A mob ransacked Shramjibi Hospital in Belur when a patient died after an operation. Relatives alleged that they had wanted to shift her to another hospital, but the attending doctor had discouraged them.
* August 2008: Relatives of deceased patient had accused the staff of RN Tagore Cardiac Research Centre and M R Bangur Hospital of medical negligence.