‘Walked into the OT and never returned’: FIR registered after family blames doctors for teenage girl’s death at GMC Doda

July 25, 2025 by News Desk

A 16-year-old girl from Tanta village in Jammu Kashmir’s Doda district died following a surgery at Government Medical College (GMC) Doda, sparking serious allegations of medical negligence and mismanagement from her grieving family.

The deceased, Sania Bano, daughter of Shabir Ahmed, had been admitted for surgery on Thursday morning.

“She was admitted around 9 a.m. and walked into the operation theatre on her own. The procedure was supposed to be over within an hour, but till evening, we were given no clear answers. They kept saying she’s unconscious. Around 5 p.m., they suddenly asked us to take her to SKIMS Srinagar. But I suspect she had already died long before,” her father told the media.

Relatives accompanying the family alleged that the doctors and staff at GMC Doda were uncooperative and rude throughout the day.

“Every time we tried asking about her condition, they either brushed us off or responded with hostility. They didn’t speak to us properly at all,” said one of them.

The case has triggered public outrage in the region, with local residents demanding accountability. “This has become routine now. GMC Doda is turning into a death trap,” said Farooq Ahmed Butt, a local resident, protesting outside the hospital.

The family has appealed to senior political leader and former minister Sakina Itoo to intervene and help secure justice.

The Jammu Kashmir Police have registered an FIR in the case. Officials said a magistrate’s inquiry has been initiated and the postmortem was conducted in the presence of police and local officials.

Dr. Tanveer Ahmed, Medical Superintendent at GMC Doda, said the girl had undergone surgery for a hydatid cyst. “It was a complicated case with multiple cysts. She went into shock during recovery and had to be intubated. The anaesthesia team tried to revive her. She was referred to SKIMS, where she was declared dead,” he said. The exact cause of death will be confirmed by the postmortem report, he added.

An internal inquiry team has also been formed to examine the case.

This is not the first such incident at GMC Doda. In May this year, a 22-year-old woman was taken inside the OT around 9 a.m., according to her family. They alleged that they were repeatedly mistreated and ignored by hospital staff throughout the day.

Later in the evening, they were told to take her to GMC Jammu. However, the family maintains she had already died hours earlier.

The latest incident comes just days after tensions flared at SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, where a patient’s attendant slapped a doctor, alleging that the medical staff had ignored his brother’s need for oxygen.

The attendant claimed the doctors were laughing even as his brother in law lay dying for the want of treatment. That episode led to protests by doctors, who denied the allegations and demanded better facilities and protection at government hospitals.

Doda’s MLA Mehraj Malik, who has consistently raised concerns over health infrastructure and accountability in the region, called Sania’s death “a deliberate killing.”

“Another lady killed by doctors at GMC Doda. Surgery for liver cyst was done today, and she died during the procedure. Later they referred her to Srinagar. Now let’s see what action is taken,” he said in a statement.

When contacted by The Kashmiriyat, Sania’s family was too distraught to speak further.