12-yr-old dies on father’s shoulder, Kanpur hospital faces investigation

Singh said he took Ansh to the hospital at about 9.30 am on Friday, after he complained of diarrhoea and vomiting. He first went to the emergency ward, where the doctors reportedly told him to go to the paediatric department.

“When we reached the emergency ward, the doctor did not give any diagnosis. He told me to go to the children’s ward. I searched for a stretcher but could not find one anywhere,” said Singh.

So he carried Ansh on his shoulder and started walking. “I did not know where the children’s ward was, and there was nobody who could give directions. It took me about an hour to find the department. A junior doctor who was present there looked at my son and declared him dead,” said Singh, a carpenter. “A private doctor later told me that he could have been saved if he had received treatment on time,” he claimed.

But the Chief Medical Superintendent, Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital, C S Singh, said the father was told, at the hospital gate, to take the boy to the paediatric department but took him to the emergency ward instead. He said the principal of the Ganesh Shanker Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College, Kanpur, Dr Navneet Kumar, has set up a three-member committee to probe the matter. Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital is an associated hospital of the medical college.

In a late night development, the state government announced that the medical superintendent had been suspended.

Meanwhile, Kanpur District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma has also ordered an inquiry into the incident. An inquiry committee comprising the additional city magistrate and additional chief medical officer has been formed.

“After the boy was declared dead, Singh took his son to a private hospital to confirm the death. The committee has recorded the statement of that doctor,” said Sharma. “The committee will probe the steps taken by the doctors in the emergency ward when the boy was initially taken there for treatment,” he said.

The Uttar Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (UPSCPCR) has also ordered a probe into the incident. “We have issued a notice to the district magistrate seeking a report about those responsible. The DM has submitted his reply that a two-member committee has been constituted to probe the incident. We will recommend further action by the government,” said UPSCPCR Chairperson Juhie Singh.