Chaos breaks out at Barishal Medical over newborn’s death

A major altercation has broken out between relatives of a newborn baby and students of Sher-E-Bangla Medical College in Barishal over the death of the infant.

The students alleged that the relatives harassed female students and nurses by accusing them of wrong treatment that led to the baby’s death.

They claimed that, in response, they detained and assaulted two people, including one of the baby’s relatives.

The family members, however, denied harassing anyone. They said there had only been an emotional argument following the infant’s death.

With the intervention of the hospital director, medical college administration, and police administration, the students released the two detainees after they apologised and signed a bond.

The incident took place on Tuesday night in the hospital’s neonatal ward, according to Assistant Commissioner of Barishal Metropolitan Police Alok Kanti Sharma.

The deceased 7-day-old infant was the daughter of Ujjal Dey from Chakhar in Banaripara Upazila.

She had been admitted to the neonatal ward of the hospital on Thursday shortly after birth due to illness. The baby died Tuesday evening while undergoing treatment.

Witnesses said the family became emotional immediately after the child’s death and accused doctors of negligence. This led to an argument between the relatives and intern doctors.

After a while, several people allegedly assaulted the child’s maternal uncle, Joydeb.

Another man named Mamun was also reportedly beaten while trying to record the incident on video.

They were later confined in a room near the hospital’s emergency department on the ground floor.

Final-year students of the medical college, however, denied assaulting anyone.

One student, Shanto Talukdar, said: “We had ward duties in the morning and afternoon, followed by item (exams). As we were leaving after the exam, the dead child’s father asked his relatives to stop us. He accused us of causing the death of his child through wrong treatment.”

He further alleged, “While trying to stop us, the relatives pulled at the aprons and bags of female students and also harassed the nurses on duty.”

Another student, Munayat Mun, said: “Our classroom is beside the neonatal ward, and we could hear the commotion from there. As we were leaving, one man grabbed some of us by the hands, scarves, and bags and behaved inappropriately.

“In a bid to save ourselves, we took shelter in a room with the help of nurses. Later, two male classmates tried to calm him down, but he damaged their mobile phones too. Eventually, we hid our uniforms and escaped.”

The child's father, Ujjal, gave a different account. He said after the infant developed breathing difficulties, they went to seek help from doctors.

Intern doctors were present in the room and declared the baby dead. He said the child's uncle became emotional and only requested that the interns not leave the ward, after which he and another person were assaulted and taken away.

The baby’s mother, Puja Rani Das, said: “After the death of my child, maybe my brother said something in anger, but he did not touch anyone. Still, the students beat him and dragged him downstairs.

“If my brother has done anything wrong, I apologise. Please forgive us. We have been sitting here with our dead child from 6pm to 1am. Please let us go.”

After reports spread that the two men were being detained, the hospital director and police from Kotwali Model Police Station arrived at the scene.

The students demanded exemplary punishment for the detained men and called for measures to prevent similar incidents in the future, including implementation of health care laws.

Assistant Commissioner Sharma said, “An unexpected incident occurred following an argument between students and the patient’s relatives. Legal action will be taken based on any written complaints received.”

Hospital Director AKM Mashiul Munir said, “The matter has been resolved through discussions with both parties. We want students to be able to move around the campus safely in uniform, and patients to receive proper treatment as well.

“We have many problems, which will need to be solved gradually, and everyone must remain patient.”