BAJAUR: Relatives of a 14-year-old victim staged a protest demonstration against alleged negligence of doctors and medical staff of the district headquarters hospital Khar during his treatment here on Sunday.

Besides the relatives, scores of villagers also participated in the protest after the death of boy in the morning hours. The protesters, who placed the dead body at the main gate of the hospital, alleged that the victim Amjid Khan, who was bitten by a stray dog several weeks ago, had died due to the negligence of the doctors and other medical staff.

The protesters pointed out that soon after the victim was bitten by a stray dog in their Laghari area of Mamund tehsil, they had brought the deceased to the hospital for treatment.

However, they said, doctors at the hospital emergency ward discharged the victim without administering anti-rabies vaccine to the deceased which was apparently not available with the hospital pharmacy.

The victim was readmitted to the hospital after a week due to deteriorating health condition and died without having proper medical treatment.

The protesters finally agreed to end their protest after assurance from the hospital’s medical superintendent and other public representatives to form an official inquiry committee into the alleged negligence of the medical staff in the treatment of victim with a report to be submitted within a week time.

Moreover, the residents of several hilly villages of Salarzai tehsil have called for making arrangement to initiate repair work on a major link road, damaged by the recent heavy rains. Taking to reporters in Khar the other day, a group of people led by Abdul Qadar Khan said that the said road was a major link among dozens of villages and small towns in the region.

They said repairing of the damaged road, connecting Wadi gram, Shah Sary, Saroo Wanoo and Damano and other populated areas, was launched by the people on self-help basis after the relevant departments had failed to even take notice of it.

However, the residents noted that the proper repair work on the damaged road was impossible without an excavator, and they requested the provincial government and district administration to arrange the heavy machinery for the durable repair of this important link road.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2024