Woman loses fingers after injection,court asks for trial

The Metropolitan Magistrate had earlier dismissed Munni’s plea stating that there was not enough evidence to establish the identity of the doctor who administered the injection in 2008.

Munni had told the court that her daughter,Neeru Chauhan,was taken to Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in 2008 for treatment of “fits”. Here,Munni told court,Neeru was given two injections in her left hand,which started to swell soon after. Neeru was taken to GTB Hospital and later to AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital,where her fingers were amputated.

The complainant had named one “Dr Brijesh” as the person who gave Neeru the injections. But the magistrate’s court found that the accused was not identified clearly.

But Additional Sessions Judge T S Kashyap said: “It was not difficult to identify the doctor who had administered the injection because the medical superintendent could have identified and located the doctor to further proceed with the matter.”

The ASJ said the preliminary evidence and the records from AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital were enough to register the complaint.

“Both doctors (from AIIMS and Safdarjung) are experts who clearly deposed that the symptom on the hand of the patient was due to an injection given at the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences and,probably,contributed to the condition of the victim,Neeru Chauhan. (This) clearly shows medical negligence on the part of the doctors concerned and the hospital,” ASJ Kashyap said.

“There was sufficient material on record for summoning the accused… for trial of offence under IPC Section 338,” the court said.

The ASJ has directed the magistrate’s court to issue summons and start trial against the doctor named in the complaint.