Chetana Raj, a 21-year-old Kannada woman actor, weighed just 56 kg but wanted to undergo liposuction because her colleagues in the Kannada television industry allegedly wanted her to lose weight. Speaking to The Quint her father K Varadaraju recalled what went wrong in his daughter's surgery that was done on Monday, 16 May, in Bengaluru.
The actor who underwent the fat-free surgery developed complications, which allegedly led to her death.
"My daughter got herself admitted to Shetty's Cosmetic Centre on Monday (16 May) at 8:30 am to undergo a fat loss surgery. The surgery which takes just three hours was extended for six hours as she developed complications. They continued to keep her under observation, and moved her to Kaade Hospital, where the doctors declared she was brought dead."
The Kannada actor's parents have alleged medical negligence and have also filed a compliant against the doctors citing carelessness and wrong treatment, as the cause of her death.
Distraught Family Demands Justice for Chetana Raj
Chetana, an actor in the Kannada television industry known for her roles in soap-operas like Geetha and Doresani, was allegedly asked by few in the industry to reduce weight. As per their advice, the female actor decided to under go the liposuction, her father said.
"She discussed about undergoing this surgery. I was against it and told her there was no need for her lose fat. Regardless of our discussion, she admitted herself to a cosmetic hospital with the help of a friend," Varadaraju added.
"My daughter was not very fat. I know she weighed around 56 kg and yet the doctors agreed to perform a fat-free surgery. My daughter's death was due to sheer medical negligence."K Varadaraju, Chetana Raj's Father
After the surgery "to remove excess fat," water accumulated in the actor's lungs. Later, she developed more medical complications and suffered cardiac arrest.
Chetana's family has claimed that the cosmetic hospital was not well equipped with their intensive care unit, because of which they could not "administer right treatment" in case of an emergency.
Shifted From the Clinic to a Hospital
After her condition worsened at the cosmetic clinic, Raj was shifted to Kaade Hospital.
A statement by Kaade Hospital claimed that one Dr Melvin, an anaesthetist of the clinic, barged into their hospital with an unresponsive patient (later identified as Chetana Raj) and disregarded all protocols. The Kaade Hospital management also said that the patient was administered CPR for 45 minutes, but did not revive.
Further, Kaade Hospital has accused that the doctor from Shetty's Cosmetic Centre of having pushed the patient to their ICU without any permission and having also insisted that doctors at Kaade treat Chetana as indicated by him. The hospital has also said that it would officially file a compliant against Dr Melvin and Shetty's Cosmetic Centre.
Meanwhile, based on the complaint given by the family, the police have filed and are investigating the case. The forensic doctors at MS Ramaiah are yet to submit the postmortem report.
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