Rains intensify in DK, Udupi districts

Mangaluru, May 28: A pregnant woman who returned from Dubai in a repatriation flight suffered miscarriage after she was allegedly denied entry to her apartment flat and also refused proper treatment in the institutional quarantine.

Fathima was put in a paid quarantine facility after she returned on May 12 flight for her first delivery.

On the second day of her return, she tested negative for Covid-19 in the first test. As per SOP (Standard operating procedures) for pregnant women, she was ready to shift to her apartment, Shivdeep Residency, located at Shivbhag in the city for home quarantine.

However, the members of the Resident Welfare Association of the apartment who got a whiff of her arrival, called an emergency meeting the previous night and reportedly informed the pregnant woman that her entry to the flat would put other residents in trouble and suggested that she stay away.

Sources said the RWA consists of some serving and retired police officials.

With no other go, the woman continued in the paid quarantine.

Treatment for a pregnant woman?

Fathima's father-in-law Azeez Bastikar said the doctors who attended her during the quarantine did not provide proper healthcare required for a pregnant woman and also refused to touch her, out of fear.

Many a time, they did not even check her BP, saying that they ‘forgot to bring the kit’. When her situation worsened, the family members contacted several hospitals in the city but all of them allegedly refused to admit her, fearing the sealing down of the hospital in case she tests positive on the 14th day COVID test.

Finally, the six and half months pregnant woman was shifted to a clinic on Wednesday after her 14th day test had turned negative.

The doctors who checked her found out that she had suffered a miscarriage and operated on her to remove the stillborn. The doctors said further delay would have costed the woman her life.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Azeez Bastikar approached Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, seeking action against the doctors and hospitals who denied treatment and the RWA who refused her entry to the apartment.

Stating that the ill-treatment meted out to her daughter-in-law by doctors and others added to her trauma resulting in the miscarriage, he appealed to the authorities to ensure that no one else is treated in a similar manner.

He said that Fathima and her husband live in Dubai and that she came to India for a safe delivery as the situation was critical in Dubai.

The paid quarantine facility where she had to continue after RWA denied her access, charged her Rs 60,000 for her stay.

Meanwhile, the MCC commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde on Thursday issued a notice to Shivdeep Apartment for refusing Fathima's entry.

The apartment has to respond within three days, failing which legal action will be initiated against it.

Belagavi, Feb 24: Almost a month after a soldier was reported missing following a trip to Gokak's Godchinamalaki falls, his wife and her lover - who was her car driver - were arrested in Belagavi for his murder.

Police said the accused, Prashant Patil, and two friends tried to throw Deepak Pattanadara, 32, off a cliff after slitting his throat. Deepak's wife, Anjali, had registered a missing case with police on February 4, saying her husband had gone on a trip with friends on January 28 and hadn't returned.

In a twist, Deepak's elder brother lodged a complaint at the same police station, alleging that Anjali was behind the disappearance.

Anjali and Prashant, both 26, were arrested on Saturday while Prashant's two friends are absconding. Deepak's decomposed body has been recovered.

Deepak, who was posted in Delhi and was on the verge of retirement after 14 years in the army, had suspected his wife's alleged affair, police said. He'd bought a car for Anjali in 2019, and since he was home only twice a year, he hired Prashant as the driver. Anjali and Prashant grew close but when Deepak asked Anjali about the affair, she denied it outright.

When Deepak came home during vacation, the duo planned to eliminate him, police said.

Mangaluru, May 19: In a bizarre incident which exposes the publicity craze of “philanthropists”, members of a city-based organisation returned without disturbing grocery kits after villagers refused to be photographed while receiving them. 

The incident took place at Mukrampady village in Puttur a few days ago. According to sources, a team belonging to an organisation from Mangaluru had visited the village with a letter from their organisation, to distribute grocery kits to families near mosques in the month of Ramadan. 

The team members reportedly insisted the beneficiaries to pose for pictures with the team near a mosque while being given the food kit. The villagers refused to fulfil their wish.

The organisation members then left the place without handing over the Ramadan kits, sources said.