Patient trapped in lift at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital: SHRC orders compensation

The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed the State government to pay ₹5 lakh as compensation to a person, who had been trapped inside a lift at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital for 42 hours.

SHRC chairperson, Alexander Thomas, said that Ravindran Nair, a resident of Pongummoodu, who went through this harrowing incident year while he was visiting the hospital as an outpatient, should be paid the compensation within two months.

He said that after paying the compensation, the government is free to recover the amount from whoever is responsible for the incident. The government may also take action against those responsible for servicing the lift if there was any failing on their part.

The SHRC pointed out that there is no dispute regarding the fact that Ravindran Nair was trapped in the lift from 11.15 a.m. on July 13 to 6 a.m. on July 15 last year. The lift, which was malfunctioning, had not been locked and there were no signboards warning people that the lift was faulty.

’Lift was faulty’

It noted that the hospital authorities had the responsibility to appoint a lift operator at least between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and that it was not complied with. The inquiry report had stated that the particular lift was frequently malfunctioning and being repaired and that more caution should have been exercised

SHRC said that it viewed the incident as extremely serious, especially when the MCH was an institution visited by thousands of patients daily. It pointed out that the patient’s life could have been in serious danger and that perhaps, he had survived the ordeal by sheer luck

There was gross negligence and dereliction of duty on the part of the authorities and that the State had to share the responsibility.

While the Commission held that the complainant is entitled to compensation, it noted that the amount claimed was not entirely reasonable. Nevertheless, given that the incident posed a real risk to the patient’s life, both the staff concerned and the State bear responsibility.

The Commission also directed the Superintendent of the hospital to provide necessary medical treatment as well as psychological support to Ravindran Nair free of cost.