A month has passed since K.K. Harshina, a native of Adivaram in Kozhikode district, began an indefinite ‘satyagraha’ outside the Government Medical College Hospital here, often braving rain and sunshine. She is determined to continue the protest even on the day of the Bakrid next week.
There has been no official action on her demand for a fair compensation for the pain and suffering she is forced to endure after an alleged botched C-Section surgery at the hospital in 2017. She is also seeking action against those responsible for her plight. Ms. Harshina had to live for five years with an artery forceps in her abdomen, which was reportedly left behind during the procedure. Though the Health department conducted two rounds of inquiry to find out how it had happened, the truth remains elusive. Another police inquiry and an investigation by the Home department are ongoing too.
“Today is the 32nd day since I have been sitting here. No one from the government has spoken to me. I have decided to continue my ‘satyagraha’,” she told The Hindu on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the action panel members visited Kozhikode District Collector A. Geetha and submitted a memorandum, highlighting Ms. Harshina’s demands. Dinesh Perumanna, panel chairman, said that a march would be taken out to the office of the District Police Chief (Kozhikode City) on June 27 demanding that the report of the police inquiry be made public.
This is the second round of her agitation that began on May 22. Though she had staged a similar protest outside the hospital between February and March, it was called off after Health Minister Veena George personally visited her and promised to consider her demands. The ongoing protest is being spearheaded by a panel comprising residents of her home town and activists of the Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, Welfare Party of India, among others. Though leaders of the United Democratic Front, including leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, MLA, UDF convener M.M. Hassan, T. Siddique, MLA, and K. Muraleedharan and M.K. Raghavan, MPs, and IUML leaders have offered support to her after visiting the site, there has been no word from the government.