Khan, who recently wrote an open letter, claims that he had been made a scapegoat for what was essentially an administrative failure.
New Delhi: Dr. Kafeel Khan, who was arrested in connection with one of India’s worst medical tragedies, was given bail by the Allahabad High Court Wednesday after seven months in custody.
Khan is accused of medical negligence leading to the death of 63 children due to lack of oxygen over a period of four days at Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College last year.
He was arrested on 2 September 2017, and charged with attempt to murder and criminal breach of trust by a public servant, among others.
Khan, however, maintained that he had been sanctioned leave on the day of the tragedy, and that the hospital administration had blamed him for what was essentially an administrative failure.
Amid the uproar over the tragedy, it was also reported that Khan had tried to arrange oxygen cylinders from his friends to help the children.
Open letter
In an open letter that became public last week, Khan had claimed that he did everything he could once he heard the news.
“The moment I got that WhatsApp message on that fateful 10 August night, I did everything a doctor, a father, a responsible citizen of India would,” he wrote.
He claimed that after he had done everything from driving to get oxygen cylinders to consoling grieving parents, chief minister Yogi Adityanath arrived in his former Lok Sabha constituency and the seat of his Gorakhnath Mutt.
“My life turned upside down when CM Yogi ji Maharaj arrived next morning on 13.08.17. He asked, so you are Dr. Kafeel? You arranged the cylinders?”
The doctor claimed that when he replied in the affirmative, the CM got angry and told him: “So you think by arranging cylinders you will become hero? I will see it.”
Adityanath’s anger was allegedly a result of his suspicion that Khan had informed the media about the tragedy.
Counter-allegations
Khan, a paediatrician, is among the nine persons accused for the deaths. He had also been charged with corruption and running a private practice, but the charges were dropped in November after a police investigation.
The doctor alleges that it was actually the district magistrate, the director general of medical education and the principal secretary of health and education who had failed to act on the 14 reminders sent by Pushpa Sales agency about the reported unpaid due of Rs 68 lakh for the purchase, tender, order, maintenance, supply or payment of liquid oxygen cylinders at the hospital.
“It was a total administrative failure at a higher level, they did not realise the gravity…they made us the scapegoat and put us behind the bars so that the truth will remain inside Gorakhpur jail,” he wrote, signing off his letter as “a helpless, brokenhearted father/husband/brother son/friend, Dr Kafeel Khan.”
Khan should not be punished if he is innocent and also because he is a Muslim. The fact that he is a Muslim will work against him.