Kozhikode: In a setback to Kozhikode woman Harshina Malayil Kulangara, a medical board on Tuesday rejected the police inquiry report that said the forceps found in her abdomen belonged to the Medical College.
The team consisted of seven medical experts, the assistant police commissioner and the government pleader. The panel said the available evidence could not conclude if the forceps were left inside Harshina's abdomen during a C-section at the Kozhikode medical college hospital.
The district medical officer (DMO) submitted the experts' report to the police on Tuesday.
While the medical experts in the team rejected the police report, the assistant police commissioner and the government pleader submitted their dissent note.
A pair of scissors were left inside Harshina's abdomen in 2017 allegedly during a C-section. It was removed from her body in 2022.
The police inquiry team, led by Assistant Commissioner Sudarsan, submitted a report to the District Medical Office two weeks ago that said the forceps found inside Harshina's abdomen belonged to the Institute of Maternal and Child Health (IMCH).
For the past 78 days, she has been on an indefinite sit-in strike in front of IMCH.
On August 1, she staged a sit-in protest in front of the DMO office for postponing the medical board meeting.
The case
Harshina (33) underwent C-sections at Thamarassery taluk hospital twice - in 2012 and 2016. Subsequently, she went for a third C-section in 2017 at the government medical college in Kozhikode. Two months later, she suffered from severe pain in her stomach; she used to get infected repeatedly and underwent two more surgeries. As Harshina's health deteriorated, her husband Ashraf had to sit with her after winding up their business and undergoing a loss of Rs 35 lakh.
Finally, a doctor at a private hospital pointed out to her the presence of forceps inside her body. Soon after, 12 cm-long steel surgical scissors were retrieved by surgery in September 2022 from her abdomen at the government medical college.
Harshina then lodged a complaint with the health minister Veena George's office, the assistant commissioner of police, Kozhikode City, and the superintendent of the medical college. Medical college authorities later claimed that it was not their scissors that were left inside.
Though the cabinet decided to pay her Rs 2 lakh as compensation and announced an investigation by the home department, Harshina did not accept the two suggestions.
She was not happy with the decision for an investigation by the home department as the police had already commenced a probe into the complaint she lodged. The health department initiated two inquiries thereafter.
