More than 100 people were killed whilst 500 are still missing The National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] is investigating a disturbing incident where more than 100 women in India were dumped in a field after a mass sterilisation, it has been revealed today. According to Indian TV Network NDTV, the NHRC has issued notices to West Bengal’s health authorities to find out why on February 5 more than 100 women– many of whom were still unconscious from anesthesia – were moved from a hospital in the Malda District of West Bengal to an open field by medical staff.
According to Agence France-Presse, medical officials claimed that there was not enough space at the hospital for the women to recover indoors.
"Over 100 women, mostly poor, came to the camp for the surgery. Immediately after the procedure, the doctors asked the helpers to move each of them to the adjacent field," the state's director of health services, Dr Biswaranjan Satpathi, told AFP.
NDTV, which captured footage of the incident, has accused two doctors at the government- run hospital of violating several rules, such as exceeding the state’s limit of each doctor being allowed to perform a maximum of 25 procedures per day. It is predicted that the doctors actually performed 50 procedures each during the sterilisations.
A reporter for the network, who was present at the scene, described how the women were “dumped” on the ground outside the hospital.
"Their relatives are massaging their feet, and that's about all the after-care they seem to be getting after the sterilisation operation," she says during the video clip.
Meanwhile, the district's chief medical officer of health, Dr Bidhan Mishra, has now launched an investigation into the doctors involved.
Although India has no laws limiting the number of children a family can have, sterilisation is encouraged by local governments which are increasingly offering incentives such as a car or electrical goods to couples who opt for the procedure.