A two-year-old boy died after he accidentally swallowed a coin-shaped battery cell used in electronic watches at his home at Waterwani village of Central Kashmir’s Budgam, with relatives alleging that government hospitals where he was taken to had refused to admit him on one or the other pretext.
The toddler’s relatives especially his uncle alleged that he was denied treatment and no ambulance was offered to them by any hospital.
The victim has been identified as Shadab Ali.
Ajaz Hussain, the uncle of the victim told news agency Kashmir News Trust that they took the child to District Hospital Budgam. “The doctors instead of taking the matter seriously referred him to JVC Hospital Bemina. At JVC, we were directed to shift the boy to SMHS Hospital. At SMHS Hospital, we were made to wait for over 3 hours and when we raised hue and cry, he was taken inside Operation Theater where doctors declared him dead,” Hussain said holding all these 3 hospitals responsible for the death of the toddler.
“X-Ray revealed the presence of the object and yet he was not given anesthesia at Budgam hospital,” he lamented.
Chief Medical Officer Budgam, Dr. Tajamul couldn’t be contacted as his phone was switched off.
Medical Superintendent SMHS Hospital Dr Nazir Chowdary told KNT that he has not received any complaint in this regard.
Medical Superintendent JVC Hospital Dr Shafa Deva said: “We rarely refer any patient to other hospital. I will ascertain the facts about this case and will get back to you,” she told KNT.
