The episode of a Karnataka-based painter, who suffered critical injuries after falling from a running train and saved by his spouse after allegedly being neglected by the hospital staff at Kuppam, baffled those who witnessed his plight, including some railway police.
According to information, Perumal of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) was on his way to Kuppam from Bangarpeta in Brindavan Express late on April 11. On the outskirts of Kuppam railway station, he fell from the train. Though a couple of passengers saw it, the thought of pulling the chain or alerting others did not occur to them.
One of them informed it to a scribe at Kuppam, who alerted the railway police. Fortunately, some passersby found the bleeding and unconscious man and rushed him to the government hospital in Kuppam town in an autorickshaw.
‘Medico-legal case’
Except a couple of paramedical staff, the hospital looked deserted. After putting a bandage on the injuries, including fractures on legs, Perumal (who was then unidentified) was allegedly dumped at a corner from 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. (of April 12). When those who brought him to the hospital asked the staff to shift him to the PES Medical College Hospital on the outskirts, the staff reportedly refused saying “it is a medico-legal case.” A nurse had even reportedly said, “He would be breathing his last in an hour or two, and it would be no use taking him to any big hospital.”
Around midnight, Perumal came to his senses and started groaning in pain. With the help of an attendant of a patient, he could contact his wife Sindhu at the KGF, who rushed to the hospital at around 3 a.m. Finding that no one was present in the general ward, she along with her relatives took away him to the Kolar Medical College Hospital, 55 km from Kuppam.
Those who brought Perumal to the Kuppam hospital could contact her the next morning as she left her mobile number with a patient’s attendant.
When contacted, Sindhu said she had seen the worst side of humanity at the Kuppam hospital. “By God’s grace, my husband is undergoing treatment. In fact, he rescued himself,” she said. She also expressed her anguish at the co-passengers not responding when her husband fell from the train.
When the matter was brought to the notice of a government official in Chittoor, no help came in from anywhere. The information was also passed on to the DMHO but in vain, as the entire district administration was busy on elections duty. The railway police at Kuppam said though the incident did happen, they could not act until they received a complaint.
