A doctor's hacking death has taken a bizzare turn after Deccan Chronicle stumbled upon crucial developments in the case.
Slain Dr T.R. Sethulakshmi was an anesthetist. She was neither a gynecologist, nor a surgeon, yet she decided to operate on 26-year-old Nithya to remove a dead foetus from her womb. While her brutal murder cannot be justified, Nithya's bereaved family alleges the doctor was 'lethargic and money-minded'.
The 'surgeon' was allegedly hacked to death in her clinic by a man whose pregnant wife in serious condition was treated by her and died en route to a hospital after she developed some complications, police said.
The man went to the clinic on January 2 and allegedly attacked the doctor while his three accomplices waited outside. All the four have been arrested.
The victim's family now claims Dr. Sethulakshmi refused to touch the wailing, writhing Nithya until they remitted Rs 10,000 as deposit.
"She made us wait for two hours and attended to the girl only after her husband Mahesh brought the money," said Kanagalakshmi, Nithya’s mother-in-law.
Mahesh was arrested after building a little tomb where he buried his wife on Tuesday.
Deccan Chronicle can report that Dr. Sethulakshmi was an anesthetist at the ESI Hospital in Thoothukudi and ran a clinic next to her house. Her name-board says she holds a MBBS degree with a diploma in anesthesia (DA).
"Such a complex case of intra-uterine death of 25-week foetus, with the patient developing life-threatening HELPP syndrome, must be attempted only in an ICU setting. This patient should have been handled by an obstetrician, not an anesthetist," said a senior neonatal specialist, under the condition of anonymity.
Another medical expert pointed out that Nithya - bleeding and unconscious - was taken by Dr. Sethulakshmi to the larger and better-equipped AVM hospital when it was too late. This hospital refused to admit her saying she was 'brought dead'.
"Dr Sethulakshmi should have referred the patient to AVM straightaway," he said.
"It is irrational that the medical fraternity has now announced strike on this issue. I am not justifying violence by an affected patient’s family, but then, medical negligence is not taken seriously in India whereas in the West, doctors lose licences for such mistakes. You can see such announcements in medical journals such as Lancet and BMJ," said veteran consumer activist K. Desikan, adding, 'we used to treat doctors as gods but now, doctors consider themselves gods'.