Nashwa’s father demands arrests of Darul Sehat’s owners, judicial inquiry

Qaiser Ali, the father of infant girl Nashwa who died a few days ago after she was paralysed due to wrong administration of a medicine at the Darul Sehat Hospital, has demanded immediate arrests of the hospital’s owners and a judicial inquiry into the criminal negligence that led to his daughter’s death.

Accompanied by his relatives and lawyers, Ali held an emotional news conference at the Karachi Press Club on Friday and demanded that the government immediately arrest the owners of the Darul Sehat Hospital, take over the health facility and run it through an administrator. He also called for a judicial inquiry into the death of his daughter, which he termed an ‘intentional murder’.

“I demand that the provincial government immediately arrest the owners of the private hospital and run the facility through an administrator instead of allowing its owners to kill more people. I also demand that the government hold a judicial inquiry into the death of my daughter through a judge of the apex court,” the bereaved father said.

He claimed that not only his nine-month old baby girl was killed by the ‘criminal staff’ of the private hospital but several other people had also lost their loved ones at the health facility in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

“After this news conference, I’m going to the police to submit my application to include the Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code in my FIR against the hospital’s owners who recruited untrained and unskilled staff and killed my daughter through them,” Ali said.

He said it was just not a medical or medication error that led to his daughter’s death, saying that if an untrained and unskilled person was hired to do the job of a professional, it was a criminal offence and deaths due to their ignorance amounted to intentional murder. Demanding the formation of a judicial commission led by a judge of the apex court to inquire into the death of his daughter, Ali said if his demands were not met within 48 hours, he along with other affected people of the Darul Sehat Hospital would stage a sit-in outside the private hospital in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

Plea to reopen hospital

Meanwhile, the Darul Sehat Hospital has urged the Sindh Health Care Commission (SHCC) to review its decision of sealing the hospital and allow it to be opened to serve patients.

The hospital administration on Friday urged the SHCC to allow the hospital to be opened so that it could continue serving thousands of patients. The administration said that they had followed all the directives of the regulatory body and were ready to bring reforms to ensure patients’ safety in the days to come.

“Immediately after learning about the fatal mistake and negligence, the hospital administration fired the midwife and nursing assistant as well as their incharge, and they are now in police custody. We have sacked several other officials for their negligence, which shows our commitment to improve the system,” said Prof Abdur Rasheed Khan, a newly appointed spokesperson for the Darul Sehat Hospital.

Prof Khan maintained that the hospital was not admitting new patients as it complied with all the directives of the SHCC. He added that 36 paramedical staff members and nurses at the hospital were being trained.

Murder section

Police are likely to place the murder section in the first information report (FIR) already registered against the Darul Sehat Hospital pertaining to administering wrong injection to Nashwa, which eventually claimed her life, adds Faraz Khan. The nine-month-old girl was paralysed after being administered a wrong injection by an untrained nursing staff member at the Darul Sehat Hospital a couple of weeks ago.

“A case against the hospital administration was registered when a minor girl was paralysed,” DSP Zahid Hussain told The News. “Now when the girl has passed away, an additional statement of her father will be recorded.”

The officer said the Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which pertains to murder, could be added in the FIR. “The addition of the murder section in the FIR depends on the complainant’s statement, police investigations and evidence,” the officer explained. The police also arrested another employee of the hospital on Friday. The staff member was identified as Waleed Abdur Rehman who was the transport incharge of the hospital.

Five staffers of the hospital have so far been arrested in connection with the case. The police are also looking for another suspect, Dr Atiya. “We are still looking for Dr Atiya who is at large but we heard through the media that she got interim bail from court,” the officer said.

Nashwa’s father visited the Sharea Faisal police station to record his statement.

Five staffers of the hospital have so far been arrested in connection with the case. The police are also looking for another suspect, Dr Atiya. “We are still looking for Dr Atiya who is at large but we heard through the media that she got interim bail from court,” the officer said.

Nashwa’s father visited the Sharea Faisal police station to record his statement.

The statement had not been recorded till the filing of this news story. The father, however, said that he was satisfied with the performance of the police investigation team. “The police investigations seem to be going in the right direction,” he remarked as he spoke to media persons outside the police station. He further explained that he wanted to add the murder section in the FIR and vowed to hold a sit-in if the family’s demands were not met.

Ali had brought his twin daughters to the hospital for treatment of diarrhoea. Her daughters were administered medicine through three drips at various times. The condition of one of his daughters, Nashwa, worsened just after the hospital told the family that she could be discharged.

The infant was put on a ventilator for the next one week at the hospital and she was paralysed when doctors removed her from the machine on April 14. She was later shifted to Liaquat National Hospital where she breathed her last on April 22.