Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has ordered a probe into the alleged medical negligence that led to the death of transgender activist Anannyah Kumari Alex in July last year.
The health and family welfare department has assigned its additional director (Vigilance) to conduct a probe and file a fact-finding report within a month. The department issued the order based on a complaint filed by LGBTQI activist Prijith P K.
Prijith said the government action was a relief amid disappointment and crises. "We will not allow Anannyah's martyrdom to go in vain," he wrote on Facebook.
The order, dated January 20, 2022, came six months after Anannyah Kumari Alex was found hanging at a flat in Edappally. She took the extreme step as she was undergoing severe mental and physical stress following her sex reassignment surgery, which, she had alleged, did not yield the desired result. The suicide triggered protests against Renai Medicity, a multi super-speciality hospital in Kochi where the surgery was performed a year ago.
The Kalamassery police had registered a case over the death following her friends' allegations against the hospital. The hospital has denied all the allegations against its doctors and the management.
The Renai hospital management said they would cooperate with the probe fully. "There has been no medical negligence on our side. We have already explained it. We will cooperate with any kind of investigation," a hospital spokesperson said.
Anannyah was the first transwoman radio jockey in Kerala. Anannyah, a professional makeup artiste, had announced her candidature on behalf of a newly formed party from the Vengara constituency in Malappuram district for the assembly polls last year. But following differences with the party which surfaced a few days before the polls, she had asked voters not to vote for her.
