In a shocking revelation, a 45-year-old man told a magistrate that his 13-year-old daughter was detained in the custody of a private hospital in Colombo until the bill involving his wife’s hospitalization was settled.

Giving evidence at the inquiry into the death of a 38-year-old woman due to alleged medical negligence at a private Hospital in Colombo, the husband said his 13-year-old daughter was detained under hospital custody until the bill was settled.

The witness Galagedarage Upali Gunatilake a resident of Thummodara informed the Colombo Fort Magistrate that his wife was transferred from the private hospital to a government hospital in a critical condition while his 13-year-old daughter was detained inside a hospital room until the hospital bill amounting to rupees one million was settled by his brother-in-law.

Lodging a complaint with the Kollupitiya police the complainant alleged that his loving wife Dayani Hemamala died due to medical negligence of the gynecologist and obstetrician who performed a surgery into an ovarian cyst on April 2012.  He complained to Court that his wife’s condition started to deteriorate even after the second operation was performed. He said doctors in the hospital accepted the fact that her intestines had been damaged due to the surgery and it would take a long time to heal.

Meanwhile, the witness said when he went to the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) to make a complaint against the hospital over the detention of his daughter; he said the NCPA did not accept his complaint. “Then my daughter wrote a letter to the Excellency President urging a fair inquiry into the incident. Soon after the letter was sent to the President, he had directed to the NCPA to commence an inquiry into the incident,” the witness further said.  

The 45-year-old witness told Court that owing to this medical negligence circumstance he lost his love wife and lost a mother to her daughter. He further said he had to expend an amount of Rs.1.6 million for medical treatments and pleaded court that necessary punishments be meted out against the hospital and the consultant.  (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)