Sandhya Anoop had come down from Abu Dhabi with her husband and two sons for a month-long holiday in Kerala. She also decided to undergo a sterilisation surgery, a method of permanent contraception, during her stay here. On Monday, Sandhya entered the operation theatre for the procedure at a private hospital in Aluva, but hours later, was rushed out in a critical condition which soon claimed her life.
The family and relatives of the 37-year-old have accused the MediHeaven hospital in Aluva’s Periyar Nagar of medical negligence. Reports have quoted some family members stating that Sandhya, who was also a nurse, had pointed out that the medicine they had prescribed prior to the procedure did not seem correct.
A case has been registered in the matter. An inquest has been filed and Sandhya’s body has been sent to the Kalamassery Medical College for post-mortem. “We have registered a case under section 174 (unnatural death) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). We are awaiting the post-mortem report to further investigate, and determine if the allegations of medical negligence are true,” an officer told TNM.
At 8.30 am on Monday, Sandhya was taken in for the procedure. News of her death reached her relatives only after her mother entered the operation theatre when there was no news about Sandhya’s condition even after one hour. According to reports, Sandhya was in a critical condition and was rushed to another hospital in an ambulance by the staff of MediHeaven. However, she passed away before they could reach the second hospital.
Speaking to TNM, a spokesperson at the MediHeaven hospital said they cannot determine the cause without the postmortem report. “The affected party had been admitted for the surgery. However, we had not performed any procedure on her. The only thing we did was administer a test dose of anaesthesia. We are waiting for the autopsy report to understand what exactly caused her death.”
Sandhya is survived by her husband Anoop Nair, and sons who are in class 6 and class 2 respectively. The family is settled in Abu Dhabi.