There was high drama on the premises of the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here on Monday as the family of a road accident victim staged a protest alleging that doctors wrongfully declared the victim, Pravin Mule (24), dead and kept his body in the freezer for over seven hours, though he was alive.
Mule and four others were taken to KIMS after they were involved in a road accident near the bypass in the early hours of Monday.
The duty doctors at the hospital declared Mule and another victim Anil Renuke brought dead and started treating others.
However, the family of Mule said that in the morning they found Mule respiring inside the freezer where he was kept for nearly seven hours.
They also alleged that the doctors did not respond when they informed them about this.
Therefore, they rushed Mule to a private hospital where they were told that the victim was dead but he would have been saved if he had been brought earlier. Later, they took the body back to KIMS and began a protest demanding action against the errant doctors and seeking compensation for the alleged medical negligence.
The protesters also demanded action against the KIMS higher authorities.
Meanwhile, some BJP leaders came to the hospital and demanded that they produce the papers that recorded the procedures followed before Mule was declared dead.
Later, Deputy Commissioner of Police Renuka Sukumar intervened and said that the police could take action only when the family members of the dead lodged a complaint. Mule’s father Subash Mule filed a complaint against the duty doctors at Vidyanagar Police Station.
KIMS director D.D. Bant said that a case has been registered. He said that the truth would be revealed once the inquiry is completed.
