Ctg hospital disposes body of newborn in dumpster

A private hospital in the port city dumped the body of a newborn "without consent of the guardians" yesterday morning, in an instance of grave professional misconduct.

The hospital authorities allegedly did not cooperate with the patient's attendants when they asked for the body of the baby, until police intervened.

The body was recovered from Chittagong City Corporation's garbage dumping ground, and handed over to the guardians in the afternoon.

Expecting mother Amena Begum, 26, was admitted to People's Hospital on KB Fazlul Quader Road in the city early yesterday. She underwent a c-section delivery around 6:30am under the supervision of gynaecologists Dr Kusum Akter and Dr Bishakha Ghosh.

“As per ultrasonogram report, we knew my sister-in-law would give birth to twins,” said Khaleda Akter Trisha. “But the hospital authorities delivered a baby girl to us, saying her twin was dead, and was thrown in the dumpster.”

“As they did not seek our consent to dispose of the baby, we asked them to return the body,” she said, adding, “They were dillydallying by saying that the workers of Chittagong City Corporation took the body by that time.”

“My brother, the father of the babies, works in a Middle Eastern country. When we informed the matter to him over the phone, he advised us to go to police station,” Trisha said.

The family complained to Panchlaish Police Station, following which police came to the hospital and asked its authorities to retrieve the body at the earliest. The hospital employees went to the city corporation dumping ground and brought the body back in a paper carton in the afternoon. The body was then handed over to the family members.

On information, gynaecologists Kusum and Bishakha rushed to the hospital and told reporters that one baby was born dead, and they informed the grandmother.

“Seeing the body, the grandmother asked us to dispose of it,” said Kusum. Amena had been receiving treatment under her supervision.

She said the mother went into labour prematurely, as the original date of delivery was June 30.

The grandmother, Ayesha Akhter, however said she was shown a body wrapped in cloth, and she could not take a closer look. “I asked them to keep the body and hand it over to my children when they come,” she said. 

Contacted, Chittagong Civil Surgeon Azizur Rahaman Siddique said what the hospital did clearly goes against professional ethics and law. “The body must be handed over to legal guardians,” he said. “We are yet to get a formal complaint, and will look into it when we do.”

Dr Subhash Chandra Sutradhar, managing director of the hospital, admitted that it was a professional misconduct but claimed that the nurses and maids on duty at that time were liable. Subhash said they would take punitive actions against the nurses and maids responsible for it.