Deenanath

black magic

Erandwane

Swargate

In a scandalising incident of aritual allegedly taking place at a top medical facility in the city, a godman has been videoed in an ‘exorcism’ at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital in. In this incident, the doctor treating the woman in question has been accused of calling the ‘godman’ in to exorcise her at the intensive care unit (ICU). This came to light when a video clip of the act went viral.On Sunday evening, 24-year-old Dattawadi resident Sandhya Sonawane passed away during treatment at Deenanath hospital. She had earlier been under the treatment of one Dr Satish Chavan, who has his own hospital in thearea, called Chavan Nursing Home.According to a police complaint that was being filed by the Sonawane family on Tuesday, Sandhya was first admitted to Chavan’s hospital on November 29 last year for a surgery, as she was suffering from a lump in her breast. Chavan had conducted a surgery the following day and kept Sandhya admitted for further treatment — but, her relatives have alleged that the patient suffered a lot during this treatment, and also faced major bleeding after the surgery.On February 21 this year, Sandhya was shifted to the ICU at Deenanath hospital. Her family has said her condition was critical by then, but Chavan did not even visit to check on her. Finally, on Saturday last week, he arrived with a godman and told the family he was going to finish “the last part of treatment”. Sandhya’s kin have said he then went into the ICU with the godman, who performed an ‘utara’ on Sandhya with a lemon and some other material in a red cloth. The hospital staffers and Sandhya’s family were present at the spot, and her brother managed to film the ceremony and sent it to a local social activist. Within hours, the clip went viral.Meanwhile, Sandhya’s family has asserted that Chavan’s negligence cost the patient her life.Her brother Mahesh Jagtap told Mirror, “My sister was suffering from breast cancer after her second delivery. She went to Chavan in pain at the end of November. But, even after her first surgery with him, she suffered from the same problem and another lump was detected in her breast. Chavan then advised a second surgery, but soon after that as well, her condition became even more critical, and she experienced major bleeding. When Chavan asked us to shift her to Deenanath, we were confused.”As for the godman incident, a shocked Mahesh said, “I was present at the hospital when Chavan came with the godman. I filmed the incident and went to Shiv Sena leader Sachin Tawre. He helped me and my family with approaching the cops. This is a clear case of medical negligence and we demand a detailed inquiry into the matter.”Meanwhile, Chavan has filed a complaint with Khadak police station on Monday, saying he has been threatened with murder on a call. In his complaint, Chavan has said that Sandhya came to his hospital with the reference of Dr Anuradha Kukade, and that he conducted Sandhya’s surgery only with the permission of her relatives. After 16 days, she was sent to Kukade for further treatment, but was admitted to Chavan’s hospital once again on December 29 last year. On February 20 this year, her second surgery was done by Dr Shivaji Vibhute, Chavan said. Thereafter, her condition became serious and she was admitted to Deenanath hospital. Chavan has claimed he visited her regularly, and on the day of the incident, happened to meet a priest at the ICU when he went to see her. Further, Chavan has said he even helped the Sonawanes sort out a billing issue at Deenanath. Despite all this, he got a call on his hospital’s landline on Monday, in which a person threatened to kill him and shut down his hospital.When Mirror contacted Deenanath hospital for comment, spokesperson Shirish Yadkikar said, “Our hospital has nothing to do with this incident or Chavan. We do not allow such practices. Sandhya was admitted here due to some complications on February 21. Her condition was critical and she was under the treatment of Dr Sameer Jog. On Sunday evening, she passed away. Our hospital is not responsible for any such superstitious practices.”