K.K. Harshina, an alleged victim of a medical negligence case in 2017 at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, and the survivor in a sexual assault incident at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital in 2023, are planning to meet Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan this week to renew their demand for justice.

Ms. Harshina, a native of Adivaram in the district, told The Hindu on Saturday (May 23) that she would meet Mr. Satheesan along with the functionaries of the Harshina Samara Sahaya Samithi, the action council formed to take forward her fight, on May 25. A surgical instrument was reportedly left behind in her stomach after a C-section procedure held at the hospital in 2017. However, nobody was aware of it then. Ms. Harshina had to endure much hardship till the instrument was removed through another surgery five years later. Functionaries of the Samithi claimed that the previous Left Democratic Front government had failed to address her concerns, though protests were held in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram in the past four years.

“The criminal case filed against two doctors and two nurses, who were on duty then, in a Kunnamangalam court has been stayed by the Kerala High Court. We are urging the government to direct the police to speed up the trial proceedings. Another case seeking appropriate compensation filed at a civil court in Kozhikode is expected to be taken up on July 2,” she said.

Ms. Harshina said her family had to spend a huge amount of money on the medical treatment, and that their livelihood was also affected because of her condition. She had to undergo two more surgeries because of consequent health problems, and the medical treatment is continuing. Ms. Harshina had rejected the financial compensation offered by the previous government. She is also likely to meet Health Minister K. Muraleedharan.

Meanwhile, the survivor in the ICU sexual assault case said that though the previous government had dismissed attendant M.M. Saseendran, the prime accused in the case, from service, proper action was yet to be taken against the five hospital staff who had threatened her. They reportedly tried to persuade her to change her statement against Mr. Saseendran. She told The Hindu that action should also be taken against K.V. Preethi of the Department of Gynaecology, who did not include some crucial details while recording her medical statement.

Also, the remarks of Fathima Banu, a junior doctor, were falsely included in it, she alleged. The survivor also said that the hospital authorities were equally culpable in the case, as they created a conducive atmosphere for the crime to happen. “I am planning to meet Mr. Satheesan and Mr. Muraleedharan after Id-ul-Adha,” she added.