Parameshwari, a daily wage labourer, lies in her bed silently weeping, immune to her relatives’ words of consolations as she grieves over her daughter Ganga (6).
Parameshwari, her son Chandru and daughter Ganga fell seriously ill after having panaka and buttermilk distributed by the Muthu Maramma temple in Valmikinagar, Chamarajpet, on Friday as part of Ramanavami festivities.
Dozens in the neighbourhood — including 19 children — showed symptoms of food poisoning on Saturday and were admitted to Vani Vilas and Victoria hospitals. Little Ganga was one of them but by the time she was brought to Vani Vilas, she was dead.
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Her father, Balu, who is also a daily wage worker, blamed delay in treatment, accusing doctors at the Kempe Gowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) of letting him down.
He said his family members started showing uneasiness late on Friday. “My wife, son and daughter started feeling ill and at about 2 a.m. In the morning, I sent my daughter to KIMS with my mother and I brought my wife and son to Victoria Hospital.”
He alleged delay in getting treatment at KIMS as there was no doctor. Finally, around 7 a.m., doctors told his mother Ganga had died and asked her to take the body home. “I rushed home as I did not believe she was dead. I was sitting beside her and I noticed her eyes lids flutter. It was already past 8 a.m. We then took her immediately to a private hospital nearby.”
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The doctors there asked him to rush her to Vani Vilas saying that she could be saved. At Vani Vilas, the doctors tried to revive her for half an hour but to no avail, he wept.
Hospital’s denial
When contacted, KIMS medical director G.S. Venkatesh and medical superintendent Suresh I. denied any such medical case or death. They said some Valmikinagar residents were treated as out-patients in their hospital.