Hyderabad: A 33-year-old police constable and her newborn daughter died at a private hospital in Banjara Hills this week, prompting allegations of medical negligence and a criminal case against the attending gynaecologist and other staff.The deceased, Poludasu Vimala Kumari, was a constable at Khulsumpura police station. She was seven months pregnant with twins and was receiving treatment at a corporate hospital in Banjara Hills for severe bleeding and abdominal pain. At around 5.30am on June 10, the victim’s husband, Sunkara Pradeep Kumar (34), a software engineer, rushed her to the hospital after the bleeding worsened.Pradeep alleged that, despite the emergency, hospital staff insisted on an advance payment of 1 lakh — even though the family is covered under the state’s Arogya Bhadratha scheme — and refused to begin treatment until the amount was deposited.Doctors informed the family at 12.30pm that one of the twins had died in the womb. Surgery was performed at 6am on June 11. During the procedure, staff handed Pradeep the body of his stillborn baby girl and informed him that the surviving male infant was in a critical condition in the neonatal ICU. Subsequently, Pradeep was busy with the burial of his daughter until the evening, and at around 7.30pm, doctors announced that Vimala had also succumbed while undergoing treatment.In his police complaint, Pradeep blamed the consultant gynaecologist and the hospital administration for the deaths, alleging delayed intervention and negligent post-operative monitoring. Based on his complaint, a case was registered under Section 106(1) (causing death due to negligence) of the BNS against the gynaecologist, hospital staff, and others on Thursday.Police have sent the constable’s body for autopsy. “The case file and the post-mortem report will be submitted for review by the medical board. Based on the board’s findings, we will proceed further with the investigation,” said Khairatabad sub-inspector Sandeep Reddy.
