A doctor at the Thiruvananthapuram Nedumangad Taluk hospital is in the dock for alleged negligence, leaving a surgical instrument in a patient’s abdomen on Thursday. A woman Laila Beevi who got admitted to the hospital on Monday had undergone hysterectomy on Thursday morning.

Few hours after the surgery, when hospital staff took a count of the surgical instruments that had been used, they found that a radio opaque clip was missing. It is an instrument used to locate tumour inside human body.

Later the hospital authorities informed the patient’s relative and Beevi was taken to a private laboratory for scanning.

The scan result showed that the instrument had indeed been left inside her.

She later underwent an urgent surgery in Thiruvananthapuram Medical college and the clip was removed.

Though the patient is out of danger, her relatives are protesting against the doctor who allegedly left the instrument inside.