Apar Titto is not from West Bengal or Bangladesh but he is known as Bengali Doctor in his locality Kishangarh.
He does not have a registration certificate and accepts that he has not taken any training in any form of medicine. Bengali Doctor is a term popular for quacks in Delhi. Titto has three glass jars with three colours of tablets – red, white and off-white, and every patient is given a combination of these for cure.
“I come to the Bengali Doctor often. He gives white tablet for any kind of pain and red for fever,” said Sunita, a resident of Kishangarh village, who works as maid and cook in nearby houses. Sunita and her neighbours go to the quack looking for cheap and quick treatment.
“I have been to the dispensary located in Neb Sarai, Chhattarpur. But sometimes the doctors were not there, and sometimes it was shut. Then I was told that it opens only from 9 am to 3 pm. As my work in the houses starts early and finishes only by 2 pm, I cannot avail the facilities there,” said Sunita.
“It is easy to go to Bengali Doctor. We can go any time and minor ailments are taken care of. Sometimes, people develop reactions and their health deteriorates, but I do not know if it is because of the medicines he gives. It can be a mere co-incidence,” said Sohail Arshad, another resident of Kishangarh.
A case of reaction caused by medicines given by a quack came to light early last month. Wrong prescription of medicine by a local doctor for a minor disease led to severe infection in a person's intestine. He was operated on in Safdarjung Hospital which recommended him bed rest for six months.
Awadhesh, 45, a resident of Sangam Vihar, had moderate cold and cough. He contacted a Bengali Doctor who prescribed medicines for cold and energy. The doctor also sold medicines to the patient. Within hours of taking the medicine his genitals started to pain and swell. When it became unbearable, Awadhesh was taken to Safdarjung Hospital. After a thorough diagnosis, he had to be immediately operated on.
"The patient was in a bad condition. His infection had spread till the waist. We had to take out a large amount of body muscles and fat,” said Dr Rahul who operated the patient.
His young daughter, who came to Delhi to learn computers, is now forced to earn for the family and father's medicines. On December 12, Delhi Medical Council submitted its report to the National Human Rights Commission in which 28 clinics run by quacks in Burari were mentioned. The NHRC has asked the chief secretary of the Delhi government to submit report on the clinics that are being run by unqualified doctors in the Capital. Meanwhile, the business continues.