Collector pulled up for delay in relief to comatose woman

The court had earlier taken up suo motu cognizance in the case based on a letter sent by Adarsha, a native of Ponmanai in Kanniyakumari district.

In her letter, Adarsha claimed that her mother Shobana was wrongly diagnosed by the GH during pregnancy and subsequently fell into coma, a condition which has prolonged for 18 years now.

Stating that her economically weak family was struggling to meet its ends, Adarsha sought adequate compensation as well as treatment for her mother. After hearing her plea, the court directed the Kanniyakumari Collector on October 10 to provide a monthly compensation of Rs 5,000 to the victim’s family. But, the compensation has not been provided to them so far.

On September 11, the court had issued a directive to the doctors at Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital to diagnose the woman’s health and questioned the possibility of her recovery.

After considering the issue, a Division Bench comprising Justices K K Sasitharan and P D Audikesavalu on Tuesday initiated contempt proceedings against the district collector. The judges also directed him to submit a report on the actions taken in this regard and adjourned the case to December 20.