New Delhi: A 20-year-old student who was critically injured after falling during a stampede-like situation at the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led march to Parliament Monday has regained consciousness but remains on ventilator support, ThePrint has learnt. She is admitted in the ICU at Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.
The student, identified as Sakshi, is a resident of Chhattarpur Extension in Delhi and was believed to have suffered asphyxia after the crowd started running post tear gas shelling, causing a stampede-like situation. Asphyxia is a life-threatening condition in which the body is deprived of enough oxygen, leading to unconsciousness or death.
Sources said that she sustained serious injuries to her face, chest and neck. She had attended the protest with her elder sister, who suffered injuries to her leg. Sakshi is pursuing an Advanced Diploma in Computer Applications (ADCA).
Several protesters were brought to RML Hospital after chaos erupted at the CJP protest on Monday demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leaks. To disperse the protestors gathered in thousands, Delhi Police resorted to lathicharge.
Hospital authorities did not respond to multiple queries from ThePrint seeking details about the nature of Sakshi’s injuries or those sustained by other students admitted at RML after Monday’s protest.
Many other protesters were brought to RML Hospital on Tuesday, but there has been no official clarification on the total number of injured students admitted or how many were discharged after treatment.
Sources said around 180 injured people were brought to the RML Hospital emergency department until 8 am Tuesday. Among them were 89 police personnel. Of the total injured, 96 were referred to the surgery department for treatment of injuries requiring procedures such as stitches and plaster casts.
All the patients were discharged from the hospital except for the one woman on ventilator.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reportedly visited the RML Hospital on Tuesday and met Sakshi’s mother.
When ThePrint visited RML Hospital on Tuesday, deployment of Delhi Police personnel and Rapid Action Force (RAF) was seen across the premises. Despite multiple requests, ThePrint reporter was not allowed to meet Sakshi’s family members or speak to them about her condition.
The head of the department of Surgery at RML, Dr Neeti Kapur, under whose observation Sakshi is admitted, declined to comment on her condition.
At the hospital premises on Tuesday afternoon, another student injured during the protest was brought in by fellow protesters.
Siddhant, a 22-year-old second-year philosophy student at Delhi University who has been participating in the protest since 20 June, arrived at RML Hospital with his friend Jitendra Nagar carrying Pankaj Gupta (name changed), a 19-year-old political science student from Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, on a stretcher.
Gupta, whose video also went viral on social media, had travelled to Delhi on Monday to join the protest without telling his family about it. The two met at the protest and became friends.
Siddhant said that Gupta’s belongings had been stolen and that he had been assaulted by men in plain clothes who abused him and threatened him for recording videos.
“He was hit with sticks on his hands, back and feet by five to six men who were not wearing police uniforms,” Siddhant told ThePrint.
Siddhant, who took shelter at Bangla Sahib Gurdwara, said that he got a call from Gupta telling him that he was badly injured. Later that night, Siddhant took him to his home in Saket and brought him to RML for treatment on Tuesday.
After Gupta’s X-ray report came back normal, he was discharged with a prescription of painkillers and antibiotics.
“He still has pain throughout his body — in his shoulders, chest, buttocks, legs,” Nagar said.
(Edited by Prakhar Agarwal)