Gujarat Woman, Newborn Die After ‘Drunk Doctor’ Conducts Delivery

Police arrested the doctor after it was found that he was drunk on duty. Consuming liquor is illegal in Gujarat

The woman and her newborn girl child died after the delivery. Photo used for representation only.

(Photo: iStockphoto)

A doctor in Gujarat's Botad district has been arrested for allegedly conducting a delivery in an inebriated state, leading to the death of the mother and the newborn child, police said on Tuesday, 27 November.

According to police, Kaminiben Chanchiya (22) was brought to Botad's government-run Sonawala Hospital, around 160 kilometres from Ahmedabad, late on Monday night, 26 November. The delivery was conducted by Dr PJ Lakhani.

“The newborn girl child died and some time later, the mother also breathed her last. The victim’s kin have accused the doctor of negligence.”

Harshad Mehta, Superintendent of Police, Botad

"Police arrested the doctor after it was found that he was drunk while on duty. He has been booked under the Prohibition Act and his blood sample has been sent for testing," Mehta said.

Consumption of liquor is prohibited in Gujarat.

“Chanchiya’s body has been sent to Bhavnagar Civil Hospital for postmortem and the autopsy report, as per rules, will be sent to a committee headed by the civil surgeon to examine and ascertain negligence on part of the accused.”

Harshad Mehta

"As per Supreme Court guidelines, only a committee headed by a civil surgeon can determine negligence charges. If the report is positive, we will book him under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) related to negligence," he said.

Lakhani's superiors and the District Development Officer have been informed of his arrest as the accused is a Class II official, Mehta said.