Patna: A woman was allegedly illegally confined at a private hospital in Patna and her seven-year-old son forced to beg for money to pay the bills hours after she delivered a stillborn baby.
Lalitha Devi, 31, was reportedly rescued after the intervention of MP Pappu Yadav, who accused the state government of allowing nursing homes to operate without a licence.
Lalitha was admitted to the Maa Sheetla Nursing Home in Patna on November 14 after doctors in her native district if Madhepura found complications in her pregnancy. The admission was facilitated by an ‘agent’ who asked her husband Nirdhan Ram to deposit Rs 25,000 for treatment.
Doctors at the nursing home could not save Lalitha’s baby which was stillborn. The hospital authorities then allegedly asked the couple to deposit additional Rs 30,000 for the treatment and when they were unable to pay, the officials refused to discharge Lalitha.
“The agent had asked me to deposit Rs 25,000 and assured us that it was enough for the entire treatment. I did as told. Despite that, the doctors could not save my child. Then they demanded Rs, 30,000 more from us,” Nirdhan told News18.
To ‘free’ Lalithaa, Nirdhan and his seven-year-old son Kundan started collecting the additional amount, and the latter set out to their native village where the child begged for help from locals.
A few locals informed MP Pappu Yadav of the family’s plight and the lawmaker then accompanied Kundan back to Patna where they finally got Lalitha discharged with help from the police.
Civil Surgeon Pramod Jha assured the MP that an investigation would be conducted and action taken against the hospital if found guilty.
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