Father Basanta Rijal said an eight-month-old Anavi was admitted to Ishan Children’s and Women Hospital (ICWH) at Basundhara in Kathmandu after she suffered from fever. According to him, she was administered antibiotics at the ICWH for “dehydration”. She was given another drug later saying that her ailment was bacterial meningitis, as diagnosed after the Cerebrospinal fluid test.

Pediatrician Dr Dhanraj Aryal of the ICWH is said to have been involved in Anavi’s treatment. Aryal had reportedly prescribed the test after the baby foamed at her mouth after 30 hours of admission.

Basanta said they took Anavi to India by air ambulance on March 20 after the ICWH reportedly denied their requests for CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). “An SGRH report showed Anavi was suffering from brain haemorrhage,” he said. Other reports said Anavi has Tuberculosis meningitis and kidney and liver infections. The baby has been receiving care at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of the SGRH for eight months.

Dr Aryal defended that they had treated the baby as diagnosed by the report. He added that an investigation into the case is under way at the Kathmandu District Administrative Office and that the fact would be known soon. The Rijal couple lodged

a complaint against the ICWH at the DAO about four months ago, demanding com-

pensation.

A permanent resident of Bachhauli VDC-9 in Chitwan, Basanta said more than Rs 10 million has been spent on Anavi’s treatment so far. Basanta, who runs a travel agency in Kathmandu, said doctors at the SGRH told them that the child’s treatment is next to impossible. The victim has been operated in the head, throat and abdomen eight times.

The Rijals’ business has been ruined as the couple has been in Delhi for months. They have admitted their six-year-old son to a school in Patelnagar.