A large crowd gathered outside the Sri Rama Multi Speciality Hospital at Jammikunta town in Telangana's Karimnagar district on Friday morning, alleging that their family member had died after she was shifted from one hospital to another.
Relatives of the woman, identified as Sandhya, a native of Jangampally village, alleged that 'infected' blood was injected into her, when was a patient at the hospital, which led to her death.
"She was brought here on Tuesday after she complained of labour pains. The hospital said that she needed blood and injected two packets. However, when the patient began having a reaction, they claimed that they did not have the necessary equipment and asked us to shift her to a nursing home in Hanamakonda the same night," Anil, one of the relatives of the deceased, told TNM.
At the nursing home, the woman gave birth successfully but continued to lose blood, following which she was shifted to Max Care hospital in Hanamakonda on Wednesday.
The newborn was shifted to the ICU at the state-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (MGM) in Warangal.
Relatives allege that the woman died at Max Care hospital on Thursday morning itself, but her body was stored at the premises, and they were only informed in the evening.
"As soon as we went to the hospital, they made us sign an agreement and took our consent for the medical procedures. However, they were not letting anyone inside and asking people to go buy medicines and pay the advance for other pending medical bills," Anil alleges.
"When one relative went in, he saw that her body had become cold but they were still keeping her on the ventilator. When we protested, another doctor came and checked on the patient and they announced her dead within half an hour," he claimed.
As things escalated and relatives of the deceased staged a protest, the Hanamakonda police stepped in.
Visuals of confrontation between the two groups show the relatives accusing the hospital of 'cheating' them as they were poor and uneducated even as police personnel try to pacify them.
When TNM contacted Max Care hospital, they acknowledged that the incident happened but refused to comment on it, stating that they don't entertain queries over the phone.
Speaking to TNM, the Hanamakonda CI said, "There was minor tension but we managed to pacify both groups. We reached a consensus through talking to each other. They took a refund from the hospital and left the premises. No case has been registered."
Relatives of the deceased then reached Jammikunta town on Friday morning to stage a protest.
Jammikunta Inspector of Police P Prashanth Reddy told TNM that a similar incident played out and the relatives left after receiving a sum as compensation and no case was registered.
He also claimed that the woman had died at Hanamakonda.