LAHAN, Nov 3: In a hut built with bamboo walls and thatched roofing, the family of Buchan Saday from Ward 5 of Chinnamasta Rural Municipality, Saptari, is in mourning. Within a week, three members of his 8-member family lost their lives, pushing the family into unbearable grief.
The family relies on the wages Buchan sends from Punjab, India, where he worked as a laborer to support his elderly father, wife, and five children back home. On October 20, his one-year-old son, Sanjeev, fell ill with diarrhea. Assuming he would recover soon, they kept him at home. As his condition worsened, the family gathered money and took him to Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital in Rajbiraj. By the time they reached the hospital, his health had deteriorated. Doctors advised them to take him elsewhere on October 23. While Sahjiv was being taken to Lahan by his mother Parbati, he died on the way.
Already mourning Sanjiv’s death, Parbati soon learned that her father-in-law and daughter had also fallen severely ill with diarrhea. After performing her son’s final rites, she began caring for the two. With all their savings spent on Sanjiv’s treatment, Parbati could not manage money to take them to hospital. On October 28, her 66-year-old father-in-law Laxmi died, and on Friday (October 30), she also lost her 4-year-old daughter Raghini.
Buchan was still in Punjab when his son fell ill. After hearing the news of his son’s death, he returned home. “My entire family is devastated,” he said after losing three family members in a week, “Due to lack of proper treatment, I lost my elderly father and children. Do the poor have to die even of minor illnesses? I had heard the government provides free healthcare to the poor; all lies.”
Biting cold afflicts Musahar people
Buchan’s wife Parbati has also fallen sick with diarrhea. She is undergoing treatment at her maternal home in Ward 7 of Shambhunath Municipality, Saptari.
At home, Buchan is with his 6-year-old daughter Radhika, 8-year-old son Ranjit, and 3-year-old daughter Ritika. Radhika is also under treatment for diarrhea. The family is gripped by grief and fear.
A health post lies close to Buchan’s house. However, health workers there came to know about the deaths of three family members only through social media. The rural municipality office, along with its health section, is also nearby. Dipendra Yadav, head of the health section, said, “We came to know through social media that three members of the same family died of diarrhea.”
He claimed lack of awareness among the Musahar community was the reason. “Had they taken the patient to hospital early, such a tragedy could have been avoided. They did not go to the nearby health post,” he said, “They sought treatment at a pharmacy and only went to hospital when the condition worsened. They are saying the hospital asked them to take the patient elsewhere, but no federal hospital would refuse treatment of diarrhea. We are trying to understand why they were told so.”
Sixteen people in this Musahar settlement of 50 households have been infected with diarrhea. Samples of nine have been sent for lab tests, Yadav said. Only after the report arrives will it be confirmed whether it is cholera or normal diarrhea, he added.
A team of health workers from the District Health Office and the local health post is treating the affected. Of the 16 infected, seven have almost recovered and nine are still ill, he said.
A single hand-pump serves more than 100 people in this settlement. The community uses this same pump for drinking, cooking, and daily chores.
Among the affected are Buchan’s family and 10-year-old Karina, daughter of Shiv Shankar Saday; 25-year-old Lilamdevi, wife of Krishna Saday; their daughters 3-year-old Gayatri Kumari and 6-year-old Sugandha Kumari; and 60-year-old Bauku Saday, along with others — totaling 16 individuals.
Medical Superintendent of Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital, Dr Prakash Sah, said he was unaware that diarrhea patients were “referred” elsewhere. “Such patients should not be referred. I am looking into the matter,” he said.
District Health Office Chief Jageshwor Khadka said the rural municipality informed them only on Saturday afternoon. “We have not received a report of the actions taken so far,” he said. “Once the report arrives, we will provide support accordingly.”
