Kerala govt approves Rs 25 lakh financial aid to family of doctor stabbed to death by patient

The Kerala government on Wednesday decided to provide Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the family of Dr Vandana Das who was brutally stabbed to death by a patient at a taluk hospital in the state earlier this month.

The government also approved compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family of fire rescue officer J S Ranjith who died while fighting a blaze at a warehouse of the Kerala State Medical Corporation Ltd (KSMCL) last week.

Besides these, the government also decided to provide a one-time financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh to the wife of a temporary pump operator who fell into a water tank and died while working at the Kavalipuzha pump house, of the Kerala Water Authority, in Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district.

The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a statement issued by his office said.

While Dr Das’ family will be given compensation from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, the fire rescue officer’s family will receive the financial assistance from the Medical Services Corporation’s funds, it said.

The 23-year-old doctor, a native of Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district, was the only child of her parents and was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital.

She was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital in Kollam district as part of her training when in the early hours of May 10 she was stabbed multiple times by G Sandeep, a school teacher, who was brought there by police for medical treatment. She succumbed to her injuries a few hours later.

Recently, a plea was moved in the Kerala High Court by a lawyer seeking Rs 1 crore compensation for the doctor’s family.

The state government, during the hearing, told the court that the issue raised in the plea was being considered.

Ranjith (32) died on May 23 when a portion of the fire-hit KMSCL warehouse collapsed over him and crushed him while he was busy dousing the raging flames.

He and his fellow fire service staff had rushed to the Kinfra Industrial Park near Thumba here after learning that a major fire had erupted in a warehouse there.

The fire force had later said the drug warehouse did not have a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire and rescue department and there was no mandatory equipment to douse the flames.

Subsequently, the state government had ordered a comprehensive probe into the incident and said safety audits would be conducted in all drug warehouses of KMSCL in the state.