A five-year-old girl tragically passed away in Uttara Kannada district on Tuesday, December 31, allegedly due to medical negligence. Mayuri Suresh, a resident of Mundgod town, was bitten by a snake, but her parents claim that the local government hospital failed to provide prompt treatment, forcing them to take her to a hospital in Hubbali. Unfortunately, Mayuri died on the way, leading her family to file a police complaint accusing the Taluk hospital of gross negligence.
According to reports, Mayuri was at the local anganwadi when she was bitten by the snake around 10 a.m. while going to urinate in the open. She was quickly taken to the Taluk hospital in Mundgod, which is about 1.5 km away, but Mahalakshmi Jagadish Naik, convenor of Lokmanch, alleged that the doctors showed extreme negligence. “The doctors did not attend to Mayuri for nearly half an hour and then said she needed to be taken to Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute (KMCRI) in Hubbali, which is an hour and a half away,” Naik stated.
Outraged by the death, nearly a hundred activists and town residents protested outside the Tahsildar’s office, demanding accountability. They raised questions about the lack of anti-snake venom at the Taluk hospital and the delay in treatment. “She died on the way to Hubbali. This should not happen to any other child,” Naik said.
The protesters also called for action against the anganwadi staff, accusing them of making the child go outside to urinate instead of using the toilet. In March 2024, the state government had designated all taluk and district hospitals as snake-bite treatment centers, following the decision to make snake bites a notifiable disease.
The Mundgod police have initiated a preliminary inquiry and written to the District Health Officer, though an FIR has yet to be filed.
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