Mamta Kalia

to do so. They quibbled on this issue
and I saw Dr. Bhagat sitting uneasily
in the chair. He was seething with anger
and began to write the death certificate.
Dr. Bhagat signed on the certificate,
rose with a jerk, left the piece of paper
there and went out of the chamber like
an arrow.
The Statement of Sister Elvin
I, senior sister Elvin Hembram was on
duty on the night of first January. That
night when a crowd came with patient
Vijay Mitra, P.G. Dr. Sujata Roy examined
him at once and instructed to put him
on Oxygen and admit him to ICCU. After
some time, Dr. C.K. Bhagat came with
Dr. Sujata Roy in ICCU. He examined
the patient and told me to send his
blood to Biochemistry. I went out on
his order. Biochemistry was locked. I
informed Dr. Bhagat and he was very
anxious and went running towards the
verandah. Suddenly the power was off.
When it came I saw Dr. Bhagat entering
breathless in ICCU. Dr. Bhagat looked
at the ECG monitor and cried— “Oh No!”
My attention went towards him with
his cry. I saw, Dr. Bhagat was trying
to check the pulse of the patient. He
was very anxious and restless. Perhaps
he couldn’t understand anything. Then
Dr. Sujata Roy told him— “Sir, the patient
is no more!”
The Statement of the Generator
Operator
On the night of first January when the
124 :: April-June 2010
power cut occurred, I was on duty. I
tried to start the generator quickly. But
due to some deposit in the generator
it took time to start. How much time
did it take, I can’t say exactly, because
I didn’t have any watch and I have
never felt its necessity.
The Statement of Dr. Choudhary
I, Dr. Neelkant Choudhary was on night
duty on first January. I don’t have quarter
in campus so I live in town on rent.
That night when I started for duty, I
heard that the main road is closed due
to the procession of governor. The way
was diverted so there was traffic jam
on all there roads. And I couldn’t reach
on time. When I came on duty a crowd
was shouting surrounding a dead-body.
The crowd was excited. In fact it could
become violent any minute. I reached
Doctor’s chamber where Dr. Bhagat and
P.G. student Dr. Sujata Roy were already
present. Dr. Bhagat told me to give the
death certificate. But since I hadn’t
attended the case, nor knew the case
history, so issuing death certificate was
neither practical nor wise for me, so
I expressed my inability. Dr. Bhagat lost
his temper.
In that mental condition he wrote
the death certificate.
On seeing that certificate I was
surprised. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I gave it to Dr. Sujata Roy to read.
She also was puzzled. Dr. Bhagat had
written the cause of death of patient
Vijay Mitra — “ Due to failure of system.”