On Sunday, Shahala Thasni, a pregnant woman lost her unborn twin babies after she was turned away by three hospitals in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts where she sought treatment for 14 hours running from pillar to post.

Her husband NC Shareef, said, “I took my wife Shahala to Manjeri medical college with severe pain at around 4.30 am on Saturday. But after going to several hospitals she finally got treatment only around 6.30 pm.”

On Saturday, Shahala was first taken to the Manjeri Medical College at 4 am. But the hospital allegedly said only coronavirus positive cases would be treated there.

Nonetheless they admitted her; the hospital reportedly discharged her saying “she is not in pain”. The hospital also did not accept a negative antigen certificate.

Then they referred the couple to the Kottaparamba government hospital, but there was no gynecologist as they reached past the outpatient time slot on Saturday afternoon.

The authorities asked the couple to try another medical facility.

Shareef said his wife had earlier tested positive for COVID-19 in early September. On September 15, she tested negative in an antigen test and returned home.

Meanwhile, Shareef contacted a private hospital at Omassery in Kozhikode, which reports said insisted that a RT-PCR test has to be done before admitting the patient, after an antigen test conducted on her showed her to be negative. On Sunday, an emergency C section survey was conducted on Shahala who suffered severe bleeding and pain. Due to this the fetuses had died by then.

Shareef, a journalist, said the tragedy could have been averted if Manjari hospital helped the couple. “I will file a complaint against the Manjeri hospital authorities who refused to treat my wife when she was in pain,” he added.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja has ordered an inquiry and also directed the health secretary to investigate the matter. She called the incident “extremely painful” and promised strict action against those responsible for the deaths.