VEHARI, Aug 15: Dozens of relatives of 14-year-old Irfan, who died at the District Headquarters Hospital early on Thursday morning after a doctor refused to attend him, staged a protest demonstration against the hospital administration in front of the DCO Office on Friday. Soon after the protest, the DCO suspended the doctor and ordered an inquiry against him.

The protesters said the hospital administration was protecting the doctors responsible for Irfan’s death. They said Dr Maqsood Betto of the emergency ward refused to attend Irfan in the medical ward, where no doctor was present. The medical ward doctor, Dr Rauf Khalid, was not in the hospital and the nurse on duty there was sleeping in a room that was locked from inside. They said that trainee nurses attended Irfan and told his attendants to bring medicines worth thousands of rupees, adding that later Irfan was not even given these medicines. They said Dr Khalid was called on his phone to come to the hospital and attend critical Irfan, but he did not.

Dr Khalid said he was not contacted on his phone to attend Irfan. Allah Ditta, Irfan’s father, said later Dr Betto was requested to attend Irfan, but he also refused. He said Dr Betto was sleeping in a room.

However, the hospital’s medical superintendent said Dr Betto was attending a critical patient.

After the protest, DCO Khuram Agha suspended Dr Betto for his negligence. However, no action was taken against Dr Khalid and the paramedics.

Agha told a press conference that an independent inquiry committee had been formed to find who was responsible for Irfan’s death. The committee would submit its report within a week and stern action would be taken against the guilty, he added. —Correspondent