A pregnant woman in Shahjahanpur district was rebuked by District Magistrate a few days back, shaming her for having a fourth child. ‘Tumhe sharm nai aati (Don’t you feel ashamed),” he had said.
The video of the same circulated widely on social media. On August 17, the woman died after giving birth.
Woman Dies After Child Birth
The woman, identified as Rekha, belonged to Singha village of Mirzapur block of Shahjahanpur.
On August 11 DM Indra Vikram Singh was conducting an inspection at the district hospital. Rekha was incidentally present at the hospital at that time. She was, reportedly, turned away due to a shortage of beds. She then approached the DM to complain about the same.
The DM ordered to immediately admit the woman in the hospital, but not before rebuking her. He asked her if she wasn’t ashamed for expecting a fourth child. ‘Are two children not enough?’ he could be heard saying in the video.
WATCH: Shahjahanpur DM Indra Vikram Singh tells a pregnant woman “sharm nahi aati, do kaafi nahi hain (aren’t you ashamed? Are two children not enough?)" during an inspection of the district hospital. The woman died later after birthing a baby boy. #UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/scoph86RKP
— TOI Bareilly (@TOIBareilly) August 18, 2019
A day later, the family of the woman shifted her to a private hospital. Her brother-in-law Mukesh Kumar said that they were not happy with the facilities available in the district hospital and hence admitted her at a private hospital. He also added that the family was hurt by DM’s remark.
She gave birth to a child but started bleeding heavily. Considering the seriousness of her condition, she was referred to an advanced healthcare centre in Bareilly. However, she died on route.
The woman was reportedly anaemic. Chief medical officer (women’s hospital) Dr Anita Dhasmana told The Times of India, “On Saturday, we heard that she died after delivering her baby. It is a known fact that risk to woman’s life increases with each pregnancy. In this case, she died due to excessive bleeding.”
On August 17, DM Kumar said that he only wanted to advise the woman, had it been taken in the right spirit.
A number of organisations, including Farmers’ Union, have lodged a complaint against the DM with Women Commission and CM Yogi Adityanath.
Also Read: Amid Massive Fire At AIIMS, Doctors Help Deliver Girl, Say It’s Their Duty
