Dr Archana SharmaThe man whose wife died during childbirth in Rajasthan’s Dausa earlier this week said that he did not write any police complaint against the attending doctor, who allegedly died by suicide after she was accused of the woman’s murder. Laluram Bairwa, however, said that he was made to sign on a paper by someone.
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Bairwa’s wife Asha Bairwa died during childbirth at Anand Hospital run by Dr Archana Sharma at Lalsot in Dausa on Monday. Dr Sharma allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday after a first information report (FIR) was registered against her.
Bairwa told The Indian Express: “I did not write the complaint. I am a labourer, koi moti baat hoti hai to parh leta hun, likhna kum he aata hai mere ko (I can read a little but can barely write)…. I was tense then and someone made me sign on a piece of paper, I do not remember who it was.”
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PremiumBairwa, however, admitted that he was angry at the hospital for handing the newborn baby to him along with the body of his deceased wife. “If something had happened to the baby, who would have taken care of him? You know that he should have been kept under observation for 48 hours,” said Bairwa, who also has three daughters.
Following Asha’s death, Bairwa and relatives went back to the village with the body but returned to the hospital along with some alleged local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders. They protested in front of the hospital carrying Asha Bairwa’s body and as the protest intensified, the local police reached the spot and allegedly assured them of appropriate action and investigation.
Later based on a complaint by Bairwa, the local police booked Dr Archana and her husband Dr Suneet Upadhyaya under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302 (murder).
Disturbed by the developments and the FIR, Dr Archana allegedly left a note and died by suicide Tuesday. In the suicide note, she wrote: “I love my husband and children a lot. Please don’t trouble them after my death. I have done nothing wrong and not killed anyone. PPH [Postpartum haemorrhage] is a known complication and so stop harassing doctors so much over it.”
“Perhaps my death might prove my innocence. Don’t harass innocent doctors. Please,” she allegedly wrote.
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