Mystery deaths haunt Madurai hospital

The mysterious deaths of two persons in and around the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) last week have revealed security lapses in the hospital, despite the presence of CCTV cameras at key locations.

Though the hospital administration has installed CCTV cameras in the maternity ward, Asma Begum of Melur, who was undergoing treatment after giving birth to a baby at the post-natal ward, went missing on Thursday last. She was later found dead in front of a shop near the hospital.

“CCTV cameras have been installed at several places in the maternity ward and guards posted at a few entrances, but no one spotted her when she left the ward,” said sources in the hospital.

On Sunday, the police found an outsider, later identified as Murugan of Thoothukudi, dead under mysterious circumstances near the canteen of the nursing institute of the hospital.

The incident has raised concerns over the safety of the women students residing in the nursing hostel with hospital sources wondering how an outsider could gain entry into the hostel, not to mention the presence of liquor bottles at the spot.

Police personnel at the GRH station rued that the hospital administration treated them like “watchmen”. “Our job is to maintain  law and order, but the hospital authorities ask us to regulate vehicles at the parking lot,” they claimed.

The police also claimed that the administration was not cooperating with them in medico-legal cases.

“For instance, in the case of Sunil Kumar of Thoothukudi, who reportedly hung himself using a bandage cloth inside the ward, the doctors failed to intimate us about his stab injuries at the time of admission,” they said. “The security aspect apart, doctors treated it as a normal case,” they added.

According to police, Sunil  was stabbed by his friends over a mobile phone theft. “Had the doctors intimated us during the time of his admission, we would have arrested the accused then,” said a police officer. In yet another incident reported from Jaihindipuram recently, the hospital failed to intimate the police about the admission of the victim in a case of attempt to murder, said a police source.  

When contacted, GRH Dean Dr N Mohan said that the police could meet him to sort out the issues.  On the mysterious death near the canteen, Mohan said that he had already formed a committee to inquire into the incident.  On security at the maternity ward, the dean said due to heavy crowds, it was difficult to monitor the movement of each person.