Bihar acts to end neglect of Araria firing victims

ANOTHER TRAUMA:Six-year-old Mansoor Alam, who was hit by a bullet in the neck during the June 3 Forbesganj police firing in Araria district, being fed by his mother Shabnam Khatoun at the Patna Medical College and Hospital on Friday. (Right) Raheena Khatoun (25), who lost her nine-month-old infant in the firing and herself was injured, awaits a doctor.

Bihar acts to end neglect of Araria firing victims

Patna: Alarmed by recent media investigations into the neglected condition of the Forbesganj police firing victims, the Bihar Health Department swung into action on Friday, instantly reimbursing the patients' pending medical and food expenditure bills.

Three persons, grievously injured in the June 3 police firing at Forbesganj in Araria district, have been undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital since June 5.

A morning visit by this correspondent to Bed Number 70A of the PMCH's Orthopaedic Ward revealed a gloomy state of affairs. Raheena Khatoun (25), its occupant, has a haemoglobin level of 7.2 g/dL and urgently needs a blood transfusion, which was not forthcoming.Raheena, who lost her nine-month infant baby, Naushad, in the crossfire when she was returning from the market, was herself badly wounded in the fracas.

Raheena's uncle, Zakir Ansari, catalogued a series of grievances against the hospital staff and government authorities, especially non-reimbursement of medicines promised by the authorities.

“We are tired and fed up of this neglect. We plan to turn back home any time,” Mr. Zakir, a labourer from Bhajanpur village, said plaintively.

A similar refrain of despondency was aired by Shabnam and Najo Khatoun, relatives of Mansoor Alam and Raees Ansari who are in the Spinal Intensive Care Unit and the Plastic Surgery Wards respectively.

Mansoor Alam Ansari, a vivacious child of six, suffered a bullet injury in the neck which rendered his right arm immobile, while Raees' jaw is so badly fractured that he cannot utter a single syllable.

All the patients complained that it was getting tougher by the hour to manage simple meals given the non-reimbursement of medicinal expenses.

However, things rapidly changed after mid-day, when the Health secretariat rapped the PMCH administration for neglect and tardiness, while demanding progress reports of the condition of the patients.

Not only were the patients fully reimbursed within the hour, but expenses for their meals and those of their attendants were immediately taken care of.

“There was some problem with food expenses of the patients' attendants, but it has been sorted out. There was never any hitch with us not reimbursing their medicines,” O.P. Chowdhary, PMCH Superintendent, told TheHindu.

Dr. Chowdhary later furnished an official account of the reimbursements made to the victims till date.

The letter notes that Raees has been given Rs.2,099, Raheena Rs.585 and Mansoor Rs. 1,488 while detailing particulars of their attendants' meal expenses.

The hospital treatment notwithstanding, the people of Bhajanpur village in Araria are firm that only immediate action by the State government, especially in the granting of compensation, can defuse the tense situation prevailing there.

Back in Forbesganj, Raheena' s father, Rafiq Ansari, has lodged a case at the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court, charging 109 people, including the Araria Sub-divisional Officer, the Forbesganj Station House Officer and BJP legislator Ashok Agarwal and his son Saurabh Agarwal with murder.

Four villagers, including baby Naushad and a pregnant woman, were killed in the police firing and there were acts of brutality with a homeguard stomping and kicking an injured victim.

The police had opened fire on a crowd, which was demolishing the boundary wall of the Rs.130-crore Auro Sundram International Glucose and Starch factory, which was obstructing the residents' only link road to Bhajanpur village.