UP woman dies after surgery by fake doctor who relied on YouTube, alleges family

The incident took place on December 4 in the Kothi area. The woman was identified as Munishara.

Police said the quack, Gyan Prakash Mishra, 48, and his nephew, who assisted him in the unauthorised surgery, are on the run. They have booked the accused on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in an FIR lodged at Kothi police station, based on a complaint by the woman’s husband, Tej Bahadur Rawat, who belongs to a Dalit community.

The victim is survived by her husband, who works as a labourer, and three minor children.

Superintendent of Police, Barabanki, Arpit Vijayvargiya said the woman had been taken to the accused for treatment and died due to the wrong medical procedure administered to her.

Police said during the inquiry, a medical team reviewed the accused’s credentials and found that he was a quack and that his clinic was not registered with the Health Department. They said they are verifying the family’s claims that the accused carried out the surgery after learning the procedure from social media.

Investigating Officer and Barabanki Circle Officer, Sameer Kumar Singh, said the accused locked the premises where the alleged surgery was conducted and went into hiding. He added that police teams are making efforts to track them down.

‘She died by the time I reached’

Speaking to The Indian Express, Tej Bahadur said his wife first complained of severe stomach pain in 2018. He had taken her to a doctor then, who conducted an ultrasound and informed them that she had a gall bladder stone.

The pain eventually subsided.

“On December 4, my wife complained of stomach pain once again. I took her to the accused, whose clinic is about 4 km from our home in Dasrapur. He told me to get an ultrasound done,” Tej Bahadur recalled.

“After going through the ultrasound report, the accused claimed the gall bladder stones had increased and she needed immediate surgery. He said he had called other doctors to assist with the operation. But no one turned up. So he carried out the surgery himself, saying he had learnt the procedure from social media,” Tej Bahadur alleged.

The next day, he said, he had briefly returned home to bathe when he received a call from the accused informing him that his wife’s condition had suddenly deteriorated and asked him to come immediately.

“By the time I reached the clinic, she was dead,” Tej Bahadur said.

He said his family and villagers staged a protest outside the accused’s clinic; they later called it off after senior officials assured them that strict action would be taken.