KMC harassment: Junior doctor Preethi declared dead at NIMS

HYDERABAD: Dr Preethi, the first-year PG student of Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal, who was treated at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad following her suicide attempt, was declared dead on Sunday night. The junior doctor attempted suicide at the MGM Hospital while on duty last week, allegedly unable to bear the harassment by her senior Dr Saif, who was eventually arrested.

In an official statement released on Sunday night, the premier medical institute said that Dr Preethi could not be saved despite best efforts. “In continuation of health update of Dr Preethi, despite continuous efforts by Multidisciplinary team of specialist doctors, she could not be saved and declared dead on 26/02/2023 at 09:10 pm, a statement signed by the NIMS medical superintendent stated.

Dr Preethi reportedly tried to end her life at the MGM Hospital in Warangal while on duty last week. She is said to have forced a lethal injection on herself and was found in an unconscious state. The pronouncement of Preethi’s death ended a five-day struggle for life in a state of unconsciousness by the junior doctor while leaving her family, friends and fellow KMC students devastated.

Ever since she was admitted to NIMS, she was reported to be in a highly critical condition with no signs of improvement. Hours before her death was officially announced, Preethi’s father revealed to the media that the doctors had informed that his daughter was brain-dead and even expressed the futility of carrying on with the treatment.

An indication that all was not well with Preethi’s case came when the security on the NIMS premises was beefed up with heavy police deployment since Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, Preethi’s family refused to treat this incident as a case of suicide and instead alleged that it was a murder by Dr Saif. They decried alleged indifference of the head of the department of KMC in handling the harassment case and the non-cooperation by the police in following the due procedure. They claimed that Dr Saif and his friends had forced the lethal injection on Preethi while stating that she was too bold a woman to take her own life. They demanded a detailed investigation by a sitting judge to unravel the truth.

Meanwhile, tension also prevailed on the NIMS premises with several tribal organisations, expressing solidarity with Preethi’s family staged protests. They demanded an ex-gratia of at least Rs five crores to Preethi’s family besides a detailed probe into the incident.