A Covid-19 positive patient has died after being beaten up inside the ICU unit of a private hospital in Uttara.
Sabuj Pirich, 32, was admitted to Shin-Shin Japan Hospital on July 19 after facing respiratory problems, Jyoti Costa, father-in-law of Sabuj said on Wednesday.
Jyoti claimed that Sabuj had been beaten up brutally inside the ICU on July 23 by some hospital staffers, who left him without treatment.
Following the incident, police took away Sabuj and admitted him to United Hospital in a critical condition. He died around 3am on Tuesday.
Shariful Islam, general manager of Shin-Shin Japan Hospital, told Dhaka Tribune that Sabuj had stabbed two nurses and a ward boy inside the Covid-dedicated ICU around 1:30am on July 23.
“One of the nurses, Mitu, 24, is undergoing treatment at our hospital in critical condition. The rest are out of danger now. We filed a case of attempted murder with Uttara (west) police station,” he said.
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“Moreover, one of the ICU patients died due to lack of treatment when Sabuj carried out the attacks.
“People rushed to the ICU after hearing the commotion. The family members of the ICU patient who died and the mob beat up Sabuj. None of my hospital employees took part in the beating,” Shariful told Dhaka Tribune.
Reason behind stabbing
Shariful labelled Sabuj as a drug addict, adding that he had a history of drinking liquor and injecting Pethidine, which had pushed him to act rudely during his Covid-19 treatment.
However, Jyoti Costa said: “The hospital authorities on July 23 told us that Sabuj needed an injection worth Tk80,800 to save his life. Immediately after receiving the injection at the ICU, Sabuj started behaving oddly.
“Besides, a bill of Tk35,000 was paid against the cost of medicines for each day. From the beginning, the hospital authorities took large sums of money from us in the morning and afternoon in the name of various tests and treatments.”
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He claimed that Sabuj had died from the inhuman torture at the hands of the staff. As ICU is a restricted area, a sharp knife should not be there, Jyoti remarked.
Police have collected the CCTV footage, which is yet to be scrutinized.
SM Ashikur Rahman, assistant police commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Uttara Zone, told Dhaka Tribune that the body bore injury marks according to the death certificate.
“The hospital authorities have filed a case. The family members of Sabuj are also preparing to file another case. The rest will be determined after investigation,” he furthered.
