GADWAL: The Telangana High Court on Monday took a serious view of the inhuman circumstances that led to the tragic death of a 20-year-old pregnant woman Jenila, who was denied treatment at six hospitals and was forced to travel for 200 km while suffering labour pains. Jenila’s shocking death explains the grim flipside of the lockdown.

Hospital after hospital ruthlessly denied her the much-needed medical assistance for the delivery of her baby, based on one remorseless premise – that she came from an area that is classified as a COVID-19 containment zone. With full labour pains, the hapless woman was forced to travel for almost 200 kms as her family members took her from one hospital to the other hoping against hope that she could be eventually admitted somewhere.

All the six hospitals that they approached bluntly refused to treat her without getting tested for COVID-19. Left with no other option, she was taken to Gandhi Hospital where she tested negative for Coronavirus. The woman was later admitted to Petla Burj Maternity Hospital where she gave birth to a baby boy. But with the new-born developing complications, he was taken to Niloufer Hospital where the baby died while undergoing treatment. Tragedy struck the family twice as Jenila’s health too turned worse even after being shifted to Osmania General Hospital leading to her eventual death.

Moved by the tragedy and the ordeal the family went through in the midst of the lockdown restrictions Kishore, a high court advocate, written a letter to the Telangana High Court complaining that the state government is not taking sufficient care of Non-COVID-19 cases. The high court, which took ‘suo motu’ cognisance of the letter and held a hearing on it on Monday, took a serious view of the incident. It gave directions to the state government on two counts.

The high court ordered the state government to immediately issue a circular in this regard while observing that the state government “cannot ignore other medical emergencies like pregnancies during the lockdown.

The highest court of the state also ordered the state government to allocate sufficient number of emergency vehicles like ambulances even for the sake of non COVID emergency services and ensure hassle-free treatment of pregnant women and patients suffering from other serious health issues. Viewing the circumstances leading to the incident as very serious, the High Court directed the Telangana government to file its counter and adjourned the matter to May 20 for further hearing.

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