Ugandan woman suffering from malnutrition, memory loss shifted to Kolkata SSKM hospital
The Ugandan woman seemed to be suffering from ulcers all over her face and she refused food as it didn't match her taste.
Namutebi Racheal, who suffers from acute malnutrition, has no memory of how she reached Bengal. (Source: Express photo by Subham Dutta)
Namutebi Rachael – the Ugandan woman who was admitted to Suri district hospital in Birbhum district about a fortnight ago and was suffering from acute malnutrition and loss of memory was today shifted to state-run SSKM hospital in Kolkata in a medical ambulance. The Ugandan woman was admitted to SSKM hospital under a medical board.
Sunanda Mukherjee, chairperson of the state Women’s Commission said that a news report – published in The Indian Express dated August 20 – about the Ugandan woman’s suffering and her alarming deterioration in health condition, was brought to her notice by one of the Women Commission members from Burdwan district. “The Newspaper has brought the issue in focus and are trying to take it forward,” she said.
Sikha Aditya – the State Women Commission member from Burdwan had urged the chairperson to intervene immediately and save the Ugandan woman’s life as she was turning from bad to worse first, in the correctional home and later in the hospital. “A Women Commission team immediately went over to Birbhum and met her in the hospital. The team, which included me, was simply horrified to see her condition and immediately took up the matter with the district magistrate. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, gave her go ahead when the women commission drew her attention and asked for her shifting to SSKM in Kolkata, said Mukherjee.
Read also: Delay in repatriation: Welfare home fears Uganda woman case may turn ‘fatal’
It may be recalled that Namutebi Rachael was taken into custody by GRP, Rampurhat after she was detected loitering in the railway platform at Sainthia on March 16, 2015. She was taken to SDJM court Rampurhat and the court directed her to be sheltered in the state-run correctional home, Sudhar. But unhappy at the food given to her, she stopped eating after some time and was suffering form acute malnutrition.
The Women Commission chairperson said that the Commission was first trying to ensure that she is safe and gets the best medical attention and simultaneously we are getting in touch with every concerned department and organization to see that she is repatriated to her home country as early as possible.”
The Ugandan woman seemed to be suffering from ulcers all over her face and she refused food as it didn’t match her taste, said Sunanda Mukherjee. “She has lost weight and our first objective is to recover her health and then look for repatriation as soon as possible,” she said.
Sujit Paul, Coordinator of the NGO called Sudhar Correctional Home, where the Ugandan woman was lodged on a Rampurhat court order, said that they were “feeling relieved” with the shifting of the woman. Should anything untoward had happened, the blame would have definitely come on the NGO. “We did not have infrastructure to deal with such inmates, he said and went o to add: “the Ugandan woman was taken in an ambulance with two attendants – one from the hospital and another from the NGO to SSKM hospital in Bengal.
Dr Nirmal Majhi – the state medical council chief said that all arrangements had been made for her recovery. A medical board had been formed at the SSKM to monitor her health.
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