Baby Killer Bribe: a Thousand Rupees Led to Newborn’s Death

Mangalore Today News Network

Bhopal, Jan 20, 2015:  A young woman named Roobina was forced to deliver her baby on a pavement today in Bhopal because she was not able to pay the Rs. 1,000 bribe allegedly demanded at a government hospital. The baby boy died minutes after being born at 10 am.

 

Roobina was accompanied by her husband, Ajmer Khan, when she went to the hospital this morning after going into labour. But staff there said that they wanted a thousand rupees to admit her. Admission and care is meant to be free at the government-run hospital.

Ajmer is a daily wage-earner and the family could not afford the bribe. His son was born on the pavement outside the hospital. "As we did not have the money, my wife delivered the baby on the foot path and the baby died. This has happened to us for the second time.  We lost our first baby two years ago the same way at the same hospital," said Ajmer.

After the baby died, family members had a heated argument with the hospital staff. The police was summoned to intervene.

The police says a post-mortem will help determine its course of action against the hospital, whose management has denied allegations of negligence.

Courtesy: NDTV