Udupi: Conmen posing as govt doctors fleece Rs18k from cancer patient

Udupi: In a shocking incident, conmen posing as government doctors fleeced money from a cancer patient here.

At a press conference, Human Rights Foundation chairman Dr. Ravindranath Shanbhag said that Subbana and Baby Kulal were cheated of Rs 18,000 by a bike-borne duo.

Subbanna and his wife, Baby Kulal, who work as coolies, are living under abject poverty at their home in Kukkehalli. Both are illiterate and have a daughter who is a ninth-standard student. Baby Kulal was diagnosed with breast cancer about 4 years ago and had surgery to remove the cancer growth. Ever since she has been unable to work.

The incident happened on February 5 when Subbanna had gone to work, and Baby was alone at home. Two unidentified men approached the woman claiming to be the doctors from the health department. They told Baby that the department’s records showed that she still was affected by cancer and had to take three more injections to completely get rid of cancer.

As the injections were not available at the government hospitals, they had to be procured from private medical shops.  Each injection would cost Rs 6,000, the conmen told the woman.

On knowing that his wife needs more medical treatment, Subbanna urgently returned home and took a loan to pay the men for getting the injections.

The matter came to light when the couple approached their family doctors after failing to get the medicines. The family doctor, Dr. Suma Shashikiran Shetty called the mobile number provided by the men and found that they were not who they claimed to be. She also helped Subbanna and Baby to get in touch with Dr. Shanbhag.

With the help of the Human Rights Protection Foundation, a case was registered at the Hiriyadka police station.

Dr. Shanbhag alleged that the police have cited a lack of evidence for catching the culprits behind the crime. He also said that the conmen got the information from Anganwadi and ASHA workers. He asked how can the police be helpless when so many cases are solved by triangulating cell phones from the mobile tower locations.