Srinagar, July 18: A Kashmir-based journalist has written an open letter to Governor Satya Pal Malik alleging medical negligence at Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar which led to the death of his twin babies. Abid Soffi, in his open letter, shared on Facebook, said doctors at the government-run hospital declared his two unborn children dead without conducting any test and slapped his pregnant wife when she protested.

"The doctors on duty asked her to lie on the bed and without any test – Ultrasound or other test – declared that both the babies have died. When my wife insisted that she can feel the movement of the babies and my mother-in-law argued about the same they were shouted at and silenced," he wrote. The incident took place on June 28. Soffi said when the babies were delivered they were alive but were left without any medical assistance. Medical Apathy in Mumbai: Doctor Removed Female Reproductive Organs and Partial Vagina from Man's Body.

According to Soffi, doctors told his wife and mother-in-law that they will have to induce labour and deliver the babies because they had died. "When my wife protests against it and said she can still feel the movement of the children -- Ali and Abu Bakar -- she was slapped and asked to shut up or leave the hospital and die," he said in his open letter. Soffi said he was never allowed to enter the room and the security personnel pushed him out whenever he tried to enter. Medical Apathy in Madhya Pradesh: Patient Dragged to X-Ray Room on Bedsheet by Hospital Staff in Jabalpur; Watch Video.

"The first baby was delivered at around 0030 hrs on June 29 and he was alive… My wife says that the senior doctor had asked the assistant to put the child (my baby) on the table, despite him being alive, as according to her (the doctor) he had no chance to survive. It was only after a junior doctor insisted; the baby (rapped in a cloth) was taken to the ICU for children," Soffi wrote. He further said, while delivering the second baby, a female doctor complained that her dress was being ruined by blood.

"The doctors again had to inject drugs to get the second baby out. My wife says it was the most excruciating experience as the second baby was higher up in the womb. The doctors had to manually pull the baby down to get him out. This was the time when the doctor complaint of her dress being ruined by the blood of my wife and children," he narrated his wife's ordeal.

Abid Soffi's open letter to Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik:

"My boys -- who were as strong as their mother is -- fought to survive for almost three-and-a-half hours without any support from the hospital authorities. The doctor said that as the babies were born premature (in the 23rd week of pregnancy) there was nothing they could do," Soffi further stated.

The journalist said he asked the Medical Superintendent (MS) of Lal Ded Hospital why no Ultrasound was done to check if my babies were dead or alive but received no answer. He also mentioned fateful stories of other patients at the hospital who lost their dear ones due to "medical apathy".

"Through this letter, I would request the Governor to intervene not in just my case, but all the cases in which families have claimed death due to negligence at Lal Ded Hospital. Mr Malik should initiate inquiry in all these cases and punish the guilty. Until and unless doctors at the only maternity hospital in the valley are made accountable, things will not streamline at LD hospital," he urged.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2019 09:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).