Patient jumps from 7th floor of hosp, dies; state Health dept seeks report

Kolkata: The 33-year-old man who jumped off from the seventh floor cornice of the Institute of NeuroScience Hospital in Mullick Bazar, on Saturday, was declared dead by the hospital at 6:25 pm.

An autopsy will be conducted at Nil Ratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital. The deceased, identified as Sujit Adhikary, had sustained multiple injuries due to the fall, he was put on a ventilator at the hospital. According to the police, he fell down from the cornice at about 12:58 pm.

He had been undergoing treatment for epileptic fits at the hospital since June 23 and was supposed to be discharged on Saturday.

According to hospital authorities, at around 11 am, the deceased person had forced his way out the window and allegedly tried to bite a nurse.

A fire officer, who was in the rescue team that was deployed to bring the man down, said: "He wasn't saying anything as to why he was sitting there but was not allowing people in uniform to approach him. We had placed several mattresses and net." Meanwhile, the Health department has demanded a report on the incident with details on the kind of security measures taken by the institute for the patients.

Following which they will decide on the requirement for a separate investigation.

The hospital authorities said that the window latches were closed tightly with a bolt. Although they found one of the bolts of the window that he escaped from broken and a bed key of the nearby cornice was found on the floor. The authorities said that the patient may have used the key to break the bolt and free the latches.

A relative of the patient reportedly told a news agency that she had requested the patient to come down safely and that she was going to take him away. "Why did they not do anything? He had a small shop," the relative said. It may be mentioned that the deceased's wife had passed away last month due to cancer.

It was learnt that the family members of the deceased patient have lodged a police complaint at Beniapukur Police Station alleging 'negligence' on the part of the hospital authorities.