When Semako and Oluwasetemi Hunpe got married, their joy knew no bounds because shortly after their wedding Oluwasetemi conceived.
Just like every expectant mother, she decided to register for ante-natal care at Prema Sai Hospital which is a private hospital located in Agege.With the doctor in charge being an Indian national, Oluwasetemi believed that she was in good hands.
According to the Nigerian Tribune, Semako said his wife consulted Dr Bharathi Jayaram on February 17, 2014 for antenatal services.He added that when his wife began to notice pre-delivery signs on February 24, 2014, she was given some injections and told to wait till about 5.p.m on February 26, before she was taken to the delivery room.
“When she went into labour, she was ordered to engage in minor exercises to help aid the labour. Before she entered into the labour room I can remember clearly that she was normal like all pregnant women that I had seen; she walked into the labour room by herself.I was invited into the labour room after several hours of intense labour without adequate care and was asked to encourage my wife to push out as she appeared exhausted sequel to prolong hours of labour.
“On getting to the labour room, I found a nurse applying Aboniki (hot balm), pressing the deceased abdomen while asking her to push and after this amateur mechanism did not yield desired result, they cut the deceased three times to bring out the baby and placed it somewhere unattended to.
“First of all, I noticed that the baby was left unattached for a long time while all four nurses were attending to my wife,”
Semako further averred that there was no doctor present throughout the delivery, stressing that after laborious delivery one of the nurses went to call Dr Jayaram.
“During the period of the delivery, I did not at anytime see the doctor; it was after the delivery that one of the nurses went to call the doctor.
“The doctor came in at about 6.15 p.m and told me to leave the labour room. I left the labour room and stood outside the door. As I stood there, I heard a noise as if someone was being flogged inside. This noise continued repeatedly.My fear grew as the nurses began to rush up and down, fidgeting. It was at this point I tried to get one of the nurses to talk to me but she wouldn’t.
“Twenty-five minutes after delivery, I was told by one of the nurses that the baby was all right, I went inside to see my wife only to see her being massaged all over her body with Aboniki balm. It terrified me to see the frequency with which they were shouting my wife’s name. She used her last bit of energy to say that her legs were hurting. Thirty-five minutes later, I was told that my wife would need blood because she was still bleeding profusely. I immediately agreed to this. All this while, I had not seen the baby. I heard the doctor calling someone and asking for blood.”
He alleged that his wife profusely bled to death, due to the unprofessional cuts administered on the deceased by the nurses and the gamble to get the baby out by any means.
Surprisingly, Hunpe alleged that Dr Jayaram told him on or about 6.45 p.m on the day to call his pastor, as she did not think that his wife could survive the incident
“Shortly after this stinging and ugly news I was informed that my wife was dead. Subsequently, they called one pastor to pray for the resurrection of my wife which further exposed the incompetence, negligence and ineptitude of the hospital’s system.
“Due to the unprofessional cuttings by incompetent nurses on my wife, the baby suffered serious deep cuts on its back and buttocks. This cuts on different sides of the baby’s body further attest to the mutilation done on his wife,” he said.
He further noted that nine months after the operation was carried out, the scars of the wounds are still obvious on the baby’s body.Semako Hunpe has, however, dragged the doctor before a Lagos State High Court, over alleged incompetence and negligence during the process of delivery.
In a suit filed by Barrister Kayode Adaramoye, the claimant (Hunpe) alleged that professional misconduct led to the death of Mrs. Oluwasetemi Hunpe, his wife.
However, counsel to Dr Jayaram, John Adanike denied any wrongdoing.
In a letter entitled “Demand for N500 million Damages,” signed by Adanike, the hospital denied being negligent or guilty of any professional misconduct.
The hospital denied liability to pay damages of N500 million, adding that the doctor carried out her duties in the best professional manner throughout the time the deceased stayed in the hospital.
“Our client denies being negligent in any manner or being guilty of any professional misconduct. Consequently, our client denies liability to pay damages in the sum of N500 million or any sum at all,” the letter reads.
Investigations by Inside Lagos revealed that Dr Bharathi Jayaram has been practising medicine in Lagos for over two decades. Although she was born and brought up in India and studied medicine at the Osmania University, Hyderabad, she chose to practise in Nigeria.
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