Road blockade in Jharkhand’s Palamu over woman's death during treatment

Medininagar: Tension gripped Jharkhand’s Palamu district on Friday after the death of a 50-year-old woman during treatment at a hospital, as her relatives and villagers blocked the Japla-Chhatarpur road for nearly five hours demanding compensation, officials said.

The deceased has been identified as Kalawati Devi (50), a resident of Jaynagar under Indrapuri police station limits in Bihar's Rohtas district.

"Enraged by the victim's death, family members and villagers demanded compensation and blocked the Japla-Chhatarpur road between 7 am and noon, leading to long queues of vehicles on both sides. Now, they have lifted the blockade," Sonu Kumar Choudhary, in-charge of Hussainabad police station, said.

Civil surgeon Anil Kumar Srivastava told PTI that around 10 days ago, the victim had undergone surgery at Aryan Hospital in Hussainabad. Her condition deteriorated later, and she was referred to Ranchi for further treatment, where she died on Thursday. The private hospital had already been sealed after negligence was detected.

Srivastava claimed that two patients had died in Hussainabad over the past week due to negligence at private facilities.

In the meantime, Pankaj Kumar, the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Hussainabad, handed over a cheque for Rs 20,000 to the family members of the deceased's final rites.