A 38-year-old woman died in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki after an unlicensed clinic owner and his nephew, allegedly drunk, botched abdominal surgery using a YouTube tutorial, sparking outrage over quackery and online health risks.
Munishra Rawat, a 38-year-old labourer’s wife and mother of three from Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, died on December 6, 2025, following a fatal abdominal procedure at the unauthorised Shri Damodar Aushdhalaya clinic.
Clinic owner Gyan Prakash Mishra and nephew Vivek Kumar Mishra performed the surgery while reportedly intoxicated, relying on a YouTube video after misdiagnosing her stomach pain as stones, with husband Tehbahadur Rawat paying Rs 20,000 of the Rs 25,000 fee upfront.
Police, led by Superintendent Arpit Vijayvargiya, sealed the clinic, filed charges for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, death by negligence, and under the SC/ST Act, confirming Mishra’s lack of qualifications via medical verification.
Family alleges deep incisions severed vital veins, validated by post-mortem as the cause of death. No arrests yet, but investigations continue amid vows for stricter crackdowns on illegal practices.
Botched Procedure: A Timeline of Horror
The ordeal began on December 5 in Barabanki’s Kothi area when Munishra, enduring severe stomach pain, visited the clinic masquerading as legitimate care. Mishra, with no formal medical training and a history of running the unregistered facility, claimed expertise despite Vivek’s supposed job at a Raebareli ayurvedic hospital providing false legitimacy.
Tehbahadur recounted Mishra watching a tutorial on his phone mid-procedure, making crude incisions without anaesthesia or sterile conditions, leaving Munishra bleeding profusely; she was rushed to a government hospital the next day but succumbed to complications.
Eyewitness accounts from the family humanise the devastation: Tehbahadur, a daily wage worker, borrowed funds for the treatment, only to witness his wife’s agony. “He cut so deep that blood wouldn’t stop; we trusted him blindly,” he lamented in his complaint, highlighting rural desperation for affordable care.
Post-mortem reports ruled out appendicitis or stones, pinpointing unqualified intervention as the killer-deep abdominal cuts severing veins led to irreversible haemorrhage. Police confirmed alcohol influence via preliminary probes, amplifying the recklessness.
Unlicensed Clinics: A Persistent Rural Menace
This incident fits a grim national pattern where quacks thrive in underserved areas, exploiting poverty and limited access to certified doctors. Uttar Pradesh alone reports hundreds of such cases yearly, with the state health department acknowledging over 1,000 illegal outlets sealed in recent drives, yet gaps persist due to uneven enforcement.
Mishra’s clinic operated for years unchecked, underscoring systemic lapses in registration and monitoring under the Clinical Establishments Act.
Experts link this to broader challenges: rural India has a doctor-patient ratio far below WHO standards, pushing patients to “pharmacies” or self-styled healers. Online platforms exacerbate dangers, as unverified tutorials democratise procedures without accountability-similar fatalities have surfaced in Bihar and Rajasthan.
Barabanki SP Vijayvargiya emphasised, “We are verifying social media claims and intensifying inspections; no leniency for quackery endangering lives.”
The Uttar Pradesh health ministry has promised mobile verification units and public awareness campaigns, but activists demand harsher penalties, including life terms for negligence deaths.
Official Response and Family’s Quest for Justice
Authorities acted swiftly post-complaint: the clinic stands sealed, evidence like the phone used for the video seized, and Mishra-Vivek declared absconding with raids underway. Charges invoke IPC Sections 304A (negligence causing death) and 336 (endangering life), plus SC/ST provisions given the victim’s community, reflecting sensitivity to social vulnerabilities.
Health officials dispatched a team to certify Mishra’s quack status, reinforcing no BAMS or MBBS credentials.
The family’s perspective adds urgency: Tehbahadur demands not just arrests but compensation for his three minor children now orphaned of maternal care. “How do we survive without her? Clinics like this prey on the poor,” he told reporters, voicing a chorus from affected kin nationwide.
Community leaders in Barabanki rallied, urging door-to-door checks, while digital rights groups flagged YouTube’s role in flagging hazardous content—though algorithms lag behind upload speeds.
Broader Implications: Digital Literacy Meets Healthcare Gaps
Beyond Barabanki, this tragedy spotlights intersecting crises: misinformation’s toll in an internet-saturated era and healthcare inequities fuelling quackery. India sees 5.5 million YouTube health views daily, per analytics, but without curation, they turn lethal for the 70% rural populace short on facilities.
Analogous cases, like a 2024 Delhi quack using TikTok for deliveries, prompted national guidelines, yet enforcement falters.
Government initiatives like Ayushman Bharat aim to bridge gaps with 1.5 lakh wellness centres, but uptake remains low in pockets like Uttar Pradesh’s interiors.
NGOs advocate integrating digital literacy in schools and ASHA worker training to debunk myths, while platforms face calls for stricter medical content moderation.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
This heartrending loss exposes how quackery and unchecked digital tools shatter families, demanding empathy for the vulnerable while rejecting shortcuts that cost lives.
At The Logical Indian, we stand for harmony through accountable systems, community education, and compassionate reforms-prioritising regulated care, tech safeguards, and rural empowerment to foster coexistence free from such perils.
