Baby decapitated inside womb at Rajasthan govt centre

In a case of grave medical negligence, staff at a government healthcare centre reportedly caused an unborn baby to be decapitated inside the womb in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district.

The incident took place on January 6. The matter came to light on Thursday after a police complaint was lodged by the victim's family members at Ramgarh police station.

Following the incident, two male nurses-- Amrit Lal and Junjhar Singh-- were suspended and Nikhil Sharma, in-charge, Ramgarh community healthcare centre, was put on awaited posting order.

"A doctor was put on awaited posting order and two male nurses were suspended Thursday night after finding negligence in the unborn delivery case," Joint Director, Jodhpur zone, S K Parmar said.

In their complaint, the family members alleged that the male nurses pulled the foetus forcefully following which the baby got separated into two parts, with the lower body part coming out and the head left inside the womb.

Nikhil Sharma, who has been put on awaited posting order, claimed he was not present at the time of the incident and learnt about the matter only after the police inquired about it.

He said the accused male nurses deposited the lower part of the foetus at the hospital mortuary and asked the family members of the woman to take her to Jodhpur.

Doctors at Umaid Hospital in Jodhpur operated upon the woman and found the head of the foetus inside the womb.

A case has been registered under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) and Section 336 (endangering life of a person) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Amritlal and Junjhar, police said.

Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma has constituted a probe committee to look into the incident.

"A committee has been constituted to investigate the matter. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty. It is a severe case. The government has a zero tolerance policy towards such negligence and it will not be tolerated," he said.

The minister said the mother, Diksha Kanwar, was recuperating at the Umaid Hospital.