Musahar Woman Gives Birth Outside Bhadohi Hospital; Five Health Officials Found Guilty of Negligence
A 20-year-old Musahar woman gave birth by the roadside outside Maharaja Chet Singh Government District Hospital in Gyanpur, Bhadohi, after she was allegedly refused admission while in labour. A subsequent government inquiry has found four doctors and a staff nurse guilty of serious negligence, leading to disciplinary action against hospital personnel.
The woman, Rani Devi of Jorai village, had reportedly visited the hospital earlier and was found to have a haemoglobin level of around 5 grams. She was referred to Mirzapur and later returned to the Gyanpur hospital while experiencing labour pains. Hospital authorities said she was again referred to a higher-level facility because of her severe anaemia.
According to her family, however, the problem was not merely medical. Rani’s brother Vijay Kumar alleged that staff nurse Neelam Maurya refused to conduct the delivery after learning that Rani belonged to the Musahar community. The family protested, but alleged that no senior hospital official intervened. They began taking Rani home, but she went into labour outside the hospital gate and eventually delivered the baby by the roadside, with women using a sheet as a screen.
After learning about the roadside delivery, Chief Medical Officer Dr S.K. Chak went to the family’s home and brought Rani and her newborn back to the district hospital, where they were admitted for treatment.
Inquiry Finds Serious Negligence
The inquiry ordered by District Magistrate Shailesh Kumar has now found serious lapses in the functioning of the hospital. The inquiry found that the labour room was locked and that senior hospital officials dealt with the matter over the telephone rather than personally attending to the situation.
Contractual doctor Dr Pankaj Kumar, who was on emergency duty on Tuesday night, has been removed from service. Staff nurse Neelam Maurya has been transferred to Aurai Community Health Centre. One month’s salary of gynaecologist Dr Mukesh Prajapati has been withheld, while action has been recommended against Chief Medical Superintendent Dr Ajay Kumar Tiwari and gynaecologist Dr Neelima Dhawan.
The inquiry’s findings establish serious medical and administrative negligence. The specific allegation that caste was the reason for denying treatment has been made by the woman’s family and has been reported alongside the inquiry, but should not be conflated with the inquiry’s finding of negligence.
Political Reaction
The incident has also drawn political criticism. Congress, in a post on X, referred to the alleged statement âMusahar ho⊠nahi karaungi deliveryâ (âYou are Musahar⊠I will not conduct the deliveryâ) and alleged that Rani was forced to give birth on the roadside after the hospital refused to admit her.
The Congress post described the incident as evidence of alleged inhumane treatment of Dalits and Adivasis under the BJP government and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Congress’s post is a political allegation, not an independent finding of the inquiry. The government inquiry, however, has independently found hospital personnel guilty of serious negligence and recommended or imposed disciplinary action.
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also shared the incident on X, writing that the matter concerned Uttar Pradesh and asking Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to consider what was happening to Dalits and Adivasis under his government.
Separately, Congress leader Manjeet Singh Notiyal described the incident as caste discrimination and called for an investigation and action.
The case therefore now has two distinct dimensions: an officially established failure of medical and administrative responsibility, and a serious allegation by the woman’s family that caste identity influenced the refusal of treatment. The latter allegation warrants separate examination rather than being treated as established solely on the basis of political posts.
