No gynaecologist, airhostess treated by dentist at Gurugram hospital, dies

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed an FIR against the managing director of a private hospital in Gurugram and a dentist in connection with the death of a 27-year-old woman from Nagaland who allegedly died after having ice cream in the ICU of the hospital last year. The woman's nephew died by suicide a day later in his hotel room in southwest Delhi allegedly after being assaulted by the hospital staff.

The duo named in the FIR are Dr Anuj Bisnoi, managing director of Alfaa Healthcare and Dr Anjali Ashk, a dentist at the hospital. CBI said they had found gross negligence on the part of the accused and the hospital and were probing the role of others as well.

The investigating agency's findings strongly indict the hospital for how the deceased, Rosy Sangma, was treated. It found that no gynaecologist was brought to the hospital for six hours though the patient was in the hospital in a critical condition. The FIR, filed under Section 304-A of IPC for causing death due to negligence, adds that no arrangement for a blood transfusion was made for hours. She was also not referred to a bigger hospital.

CBI probed the case on a request from the Union home ministry last July. Sangma, who was a cabin crew with a private airline, died on June 24, 2021 while under treatment at Alfaa Hospital. A day earlier, Sangama had come complaining of intense pain in her hand and leg with loose motions and heavy genital bleeding. She was admitted around 6am and treated by, according to CBI, Ashk, a dentist with no qualification to treat gynaecological conditions.

"Dr Anuj Bishnoi entered the hospital for the first time on 24th June 10.26:49am as per the CCTV at the main gate even though he was informed about a serious patient being admitted by Dr Anjali," said the CBI FIR. "At 12.30am, Dr Bisnoi informed SHO Brijwasan that the patient had died. However, around 1.30 pm, Dr Bisnoi informed the SHO that the said patient case could be that of 'suspected poisoning' or 'foul play'.”

After her death, Sangma's nephew, Samuel, raised the issue of her death on social media and made a video narrating the sequence of events. He alleged that he was thrashed and thrown out of the hospital for circulating the video. The hospital had earlier claimed that Sangma had ice cream of her own free will. It also claimed that there was a small scuffle over her nephew's videos but that he was not assaulted.