Denied wheelchair, woman drags ailing husband on hospital floor

A video footage showing an aged woman dragging her sick husband on the floor to the scanning room, after reportedly being denied a wheelchair at McGann Hospital here went viral, on Friday.

Four temporary workers including three nurses have been suspended in connection with the incident.

Famida Banu, the woman in the video, said that she was forced to drag her husband Ameer Sab (75) from the ward to the scanning room since she was denied a wheelchair for not paying bribe to the hospital staff.

Ameer Sab, a resident of Kurubarapalya in Shivamogga, was admitted to McGann hospital on May 25 after he complained of chest pain. On May 30, the doctor treating him advised him to undergo scanning.

Famida said that the hospital staff asked her to pay Rs 20 for providing a wheelchair to ferry her husband to the scanning room. Since she had no money, she decided to shift her husband on her own by dragging him on the floor. The video shows elderly man lying on the floor being pulled by his legs. A patient in the hospital recorded the scene on his cell phone and posted the clipping on WhatsApp.

Fousia Banu, the daughter-in-law of Ameer Sab, said that the doctors had advised an abdominal ultrasound scanning. “We had no money to pay the bribe demanded by hospital staff for providing a wheelchair. The personnel at the scanning room were about to leave the hospital for lunch around 1.30 pm. Hence, my mother-in-law dragged her husband to get the test performed.”

McGann hospital is a teaching facility attached to Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS).

B V Sushil Kumar, director, SIMS, said that three nurses — Chaitra, Jyothi and Asha — and Suvarnamma, a Group ‘D’ worker, have been suspended in connection with the incident.

Notices have been issued to Detect Well, a Bengaluru-based firm and Swiss Security Services of Mysuru, which have outsourced employees to McGann hospital. More than 1,200 outsourced workers serve in this state-run health facility.

MLA K B Prasanna Kumar termed the incident “most unfortunate” and an insult to  civilised society. The SIMS director would examine the CCTV footage and probe the entire incident, he said.