Wife of a day labourer and mother of three, Rashida remained unconscious since she was operated upon allegedly without any laboratory tests at an unregistered clinic in the city by non-specialist surgeons on August 8.

As Rashida did not regain senses, she was given saline after she was shifted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH). But her mysterious disappearance from the hospital on August 27 stopped the process.

Doctors said she might have died of starvation, as she was not administered saline at home.

Her family said they could not feed her anything and quacks at the village could not administer saline.

The news of Rashida's death was known Thursday when a group of newsmen visited her house. Family members blamed the clinic for her death.

Day labourer Mofiz Uddin's wife Rashida was taken to Nazma Clinic by a broker when she came to the city with serious abdominal pain on August 8. The clinic staff told her husband she should be operated upon immediately for removal of a big ovarian tumour.

Then they took her to the operating theatre and gave anaesthesia. But she was taken out, as the surgeon concerned did not reach in time.

She was again taken to the operating table three hours later and given local anaesthesia by Dr Yadul Islam. Dr Sarmin Sultana, a medical officer at Paba Upazila Health and Family Welfare Centre, operated upon her.

She never regained her senses. "Her life could probably be saved if she was treated at the RMCH for some more days as advised by us. But her family members mysteriously took her away," said Professor Dr Lutfar Rahman of neurology department at the RMCH.

A probe team formed following a complaint by her husband asked the authorities of Nazma Clinic to shift Rashida to the RMCH on August 12. But she was shifted on August 22 in a critical condition.

A senior doctor at the RMCH said Rashida had developed meningitis from infections due to non-sterile environment at the clinic and her central nerves stopped functioning following anaesthesia shocks.

The three-member probe body headed by Civil Surgeon of Rajshahi Dr AK Fazlul Haque found out that no laboratory tests were carried out before the operation and non-specialist doctors applied anaesthesia and operated upon Rashida. And this led the patient to slip into a 'cerebral hypocria'.

The probe body also said the clinic is unregistered and lacks the minimum requirements.

And the clinic authorities used in its signboard the name of a deputy director of the health department.

The deputy director concerned denied any links to the clinic and said the clinic authorities cheated people using his name. "The clinic should be sealed off immediately before it victimises any other patient," he said.

Contacted, the owner of Nazma Clinic, Reaz Uddin, said he used his name and not the deputy director's name in the signboard.

As for his clinic's registration, he asked back how many clinics were there in the city with registration.

Reaz claimed that the clinic authorities bore the cost of Rashida's treatment on humanitarian grounds.

But her husband Mofiz said he had borrowed Tk 25,000 to meet the expenses.

He also said he had taken his wife from the RMCH on the advice of a former chairman of Sonadanga Union Parishad. He and his family members accused the chairman of having underhand deals with the clinic authorities.

The civil surgeon said action against the illegal clinic will be decided at a meeting on September 11.