Thiruvananthapuram: The State Home Department will probe the incident in which a scissor was reportedly left behind inside a woman’s stomach post her cesarean surgery held at the Kozhikode Medical College five years ago.
The development comes in the wake of the Health department's failure to ascertain as to when the surgical equipment got trapped inside the stomach of K K Harsheena, the complainant, despite conducting two inquiries.
The Government has also decided to extend a compensation of Rs two lakh to her from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund.
The development comes even as Harsheena (32), a native of Pantheerankavu, Kozhikode, was preparing herself to protest before the secretariat in the state capital, citing the denial of justice to her on the part of the authorities. Her decision came after the promise of the Health Minister Veena George to provide her compensation in two weeks remained unfulfilled.
The Health department is yet to arrive at a final finding as to where and when the scissors got left behind in the stomach of Harsheena. Earlier, this month, Harsheena had staged a protest before the Kozhikode Medical College, seeking justice. The Health minister reached the Medical College then and promised to take a decision in all matters, including compensation. She also assured to bring the guilty before the law. Following this, Harsheena withdrew from the protest. However, nothing happened even after three weeks, her family charged.
According to the complainant, the incident happened on November 30, 2017, when she had undergone a C-section surgery at the Kozhikode MCH for her third delivery. She experienced severe pain after this. Finally, the metal object was found inside her during scanning. She got admitted to the same hospital last year and the scissor was removed.
Harsheena’s words
“Post the surgery, I experienced severe pain and infection frequently. There was only a gap of 20 months between my second and third deliveries. So, at first, we thought, the problem was with the stitching done on the stomach. I, somehow, managed to bear the pain for some time, thinking it would heal by itself. As days passed, I began to suffer from swelling in my whole body. I couldn’t even stand or sit. I began to take antibiotics and painkillers. Meanwhile, my urinary bladder got injured due to the sharp edge of the scissor. We spent lakhs of rupees on the treatment. Last year, a detailed examination was conducted at a private hospital, and during scanning, the presence of scissors inside the stomach was detected. Another surgery was held at the Kozhikode Medical College on September 2022, and the six-cm scissor was removed from my stomach.”