Days after walking out of jail, Uttar Pradesh-based doctor Kafeel Khan, who was booked in connection with the deaths of infants at a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur last year, addressed a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday, 9 May.
Seeking to clear various misconceptions regarding his role in the tragedy, the formal nodal officer at the BRD Hospital said the deaths were due to "total administrative failure" and alleged that he and his family were threatened and harassed by the state.
To cover up the whole thing, they first went into denial mode. Then, there was rumour-mongering and distorting of facts on social media. They started a smear campaign against me.Kafeel Khan
Khan, who was arrested on 2 September last year, was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on 25 April and walked out of jail on 28 April.
After coming out of jail, Kafeel hugged his wife and daughter and said, "The honourable High Court has clearly said that there is no evidence against me. You know what my family went through in the last eight months. I do not know what my fault is.”
“That day what I did was something that a father, doctor and an Indian would’ve done. My job was to treat the children there. I did extra work of arranging oxygen cylinders as liquid oxygen had got finished,” Khan had told ANI.
More than 60 children, mostly infants, had died at the hospital within a week in August, 2017. There were allegations that the deaths occurred due to disruption in oxygen supply. The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, however, had denied that shortage of oxygen led to the deaths.
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
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