Probe has begun into the alleged incident of mistreatment of a pregnant Muslim woman at MGM Medical College and Hospital of Jamshedpur of Jharkhand, where she was subject to religious slur and accused of spreading COVID-19, made to mop her own blood, hit with footwear and lost her unborn child in the process.
Rizwana Khatoon, 30, who made a written complaint to Chief Minister Hemant Soren about the incident on Saturday, is determined to get justice not only for herself. “I just want to ensure that this does not happen to anyone else in the future,” a weak-sounding Rizwana told THE WEEK over the telephone.
Rizwana is still reeling from the shock and is physically weak after losing her unborn child that she and her family allege was the result of delay by the medical staff of MGM Medical College in attending to her and the consequent mistreatment she was subject to.
She had to be administered two bottles of blood on Sunday as she lost a lot during mistreatment at MGM hospital and later due to the medical termination of pregnancy as the foetus had died by the time she reached a private hospital, Rizwana’s husband Mohammad Shamim, 32, told THE WEEK.
Following the complaint, deputy commissioner (district collector) of East Singhbhum, Ravi Shankar Shukla, ordered a probe into the incident on Sunday. He constituted a three-member committee, including the deputy superintendent of the hospital, an executive magistrate and the in-charge of the Sakchi police station in Jamshedpur and sought a report within 48 hours. "The report of the inquiry committee is expected by Monday evening or Tuesday morning and the next course of action will be decided on the basis of the report," Shukla told THE WEEK.
A police team, including the superintendent of police (SP) of Jamshedpur, visited Rizwana and her family and recorded statements on Sunday evening, Mohammad Shamim said.
When contacted, SP Subhash Chandra Jat said the probe by the committee, appointed by the deputy commissioner, had begun and action would be taken on basis of the report of the committee. “I cannot comment more at this point of time,” he said.
Rizwana and Shamim have a seven-year-old daughter and were looking forward to having their second baby. She was four months pregnant at the time of the incident.
Giving details, Shamim, who drives an auto rickshaw, told THE WEEK that they had gone to MGM Medical College and Hospital on April 16 for the first time as her regular doctor was not available on the day. Apart from Shamim, Rizwana’s brother, mother and sister also accompanied her to the hospital.
“She was bleeding heavily and we took her on a stretcher to the labour room. She was left unattended for about half an hour and meanwhile, her blood seeped onto the floor from the stretcher. This enraged the medical staff there and a lady–either a doctor or a nurse–asked her to mop the blood, hurling religious abuses at her that it was this way that they were spreading coronavirus infection (COVID-19). She was feeling weak and couldn’t move, so the lady staff hit her with footwear. Her brother intervened as I was, meanwhile, trying to arrange for money. Later, we decided to take her to a private hospital, where we were told that the baby in the womb had died,” Shamim said.