Attack on Dalit woman in Manipal for feeding stray dogs: Accused sent to judicial custody
Udupi: Chandrakanth Bhat, who was arrested under charge of brutally assaulting a 50-year-old Dalit woman recently for feeding stray dogs near his house at Indrali in Hayagriva Nagar, has been remanded in 14 days of judicial custody.
The Dalit woman, Baby, a resident of Kunjibettu Budnar was grievously injured in the attack and is being treated at the Ajjarakadu Hospital.
Bhat was reportedly angered that Baby, who is learned to have been acquainted with Bhat, was feeding the stray dogs near his house. Taking an objection to this, Bhat not only abused the woman verbally but also reportedly hit her on the head with a wooden rod.
A case was booked against Bhat at the Manipal Police Station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Bhat was arrested by Manipal Police on March 21 and, when he was presented before the court, the bench ordered that he be sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
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The Udupi District Committee of the Karnataka Dalita Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkar faction) has alleged that the authorities, under pressure from the local legislator, admitted the arrested accused to the Udupi District Hospital on the same night, claiming ill-health. The panel has also said that the accused has been receiving 'royal treatment' at the hospital.
The Committee office-bearers, who spoke to Udupi Superintendent of Police Dr. Arun K, have urged the senior police officer to take strict action and ensure that there is no violation of the law in handling the case. They have also asked the SP to continue the investigation after adding the IPC Sections that were excluded in the FIR.
The panel members also met the attack victim Baby at the District Hospital with the permission of the Udupi Deputy SP, who is the investigation officer.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
