Infant’s disappearance exposes security chinks in Chhattisgarh hospital

RAIPUR: The mysterious disappearance of the six-month-old girl from the psychiatry ward of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) in the state capital of Chhattisgarh on Friday has not only exposed the shoddy security services at the hospital but also the insensitive and inhuman rules that govern its working.
According to officials, the girl’s mother, Amika Bai, an apparent homeless destitute, has been undergoing treatment at the hospital for Bipolar Menace Disorder under the orders of SDM, Raipur.She was admitted in March, a couple of days after she delivered the girl child on the city’s streets.
The fact that the hospital earlier refused to admit her as rules didn’t permit admittance of “unidentified persons” only shows the callous attitude of the hospital authorities. It is surprising that the doctors, who take the Hippocrates Oath to treat patients with care and compassion, left the mentally challenged women to fend for herself on the city’s streets.
However, they admitted her when the SDM issued official orders after learning about the birth of the girl on the streets of the city.
Surprisingly, Amika Bai has been undergoing treatment for the last six months but no serious effort seems to have been made to trace her family. While doctors attending upon her say that her Oriya dialect is causing communication problems, they had no response as to why no translator has been called to communicate with her.
Even the cops seem to have given up, perhaps even without trying, and dub the woman “mental”. When contacted Inspector Maudhapara, Rajiv Sharma, said the woman’s language was proving an impediment for communication and he claimed that they had no Oriya translator in the entire district.
Dr Manoj Sahu, Psychiatry department of JNMC admitted that the psychiatry ward here is an open one, with no door to lock and control access. However, in majority of the hospitals around the country, the psychiatry wards have access control to prevent patients from getting out or unwanted people from entering. The mental state of the patients admitted in such wards makes security all the more necessary for their own safety and that of others.
When contacted, JNMC Medical Superintendant, Dr Vivek Choudhary, said they had only followed rules and had been treating the women for Bipolar Menace Disorder.
Meanwhile, Amika Bai’s fate once again highlights the desperate need for an institution to take case of mentally challenged and homeless women, who are vulnerable to violence and sexual abuse. Till date Chhattisgarh has no institution, private or public, to take care of such women, even though there are some homes for destitute females.