Dr. Kafeel Khan, a Gorakhpur doctor who saved the lives of numerous children when there was an alleged oxygen shortage at Baba Raghubar Das (BRD) Hospital in August 2017, and who was subsequently sacked and arrested, has now been granted bail by the Allahabad High Court after an excruciating 8 month long wait.
In August 2017, 23 children died overnight at Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghubar Das Medical College Hospital, allegedly because of an oxygen shortage. Dr. Khan, a paediatrician working in the encephalitis ward at the hospital, rushed to arrange for oxygen cylinders, earning respect for his quick efforts.
However, on August 13, 2017, he was removed from his position as nodal officer, just days after the incident. In September, 2017, Dr. Khan was arrested in connection with the children’s deaths and also over corruption charges that have since been dropped. Khan is one of the nine accused in the childrens’ deaths, including the medical college’s principal, the principal’s wife, and the owner of the agency that supplied oxygen to the hospital.
The alleged lack of oxygen reportedly took place because of a payment disagreement with a private supplier. Then, District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela had said he found out from doctors at the hospital that none of the deaths took place because of a lack of oxygen; the state government issued an official release denying reports about an oxygen shortage at the hospital. The government has attributed the children’s deaths to other causes.
Dr. Khan’s Heartfelt Letter
Days ago, while still in prison, Khan penned a letter sharing his plight. The later was made public by his wife who visited him in prison. In it, he describes how he worked to gather 250 cylinders of oxygen during the shortage, paying for them himself.
In the letter, he narrates his encounter with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying:
“He asked: So you are Dr Kafeel? You arranged the cylinders?”
“Yes sir.”
“He got angry: So you think by arranging cylinders you became hero? I will see it.”
According to Khan, Adityanath was angered over how the incident making its way to the media.
Dr. Khan writes that his family was tortured and threatened by the police, saying that he “surrendered to save my family from the humiliation, misery, thinking that when I have not done anything wrong, I should get justice”. He explains that he was not involved with the purchase, tender, order, maintenance, supply or payment of the liquid oxygen at the hospital.
Instead, he says the guilty are Gorakhpur’s district magistrate, the director general of medical education, the principal secretary of health education, who he says did not act on the 14 reminders to pay the outstanding dues. Khan calls the oxygen shortage “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.”