Gorakhpur Tragedy: Is ‘Saviour’ Dr Kafeel Khan falsely Being Accused as a Rapist?

The rape allegation against Dr Kafeel Ahmad Khan, the head of the encephalitis ward and an assistant professor at the pediatric department at Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital (BRD Medical College and Hospital), was not only “false and fabricated", but levelled against him with “malafide intention”.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government does not appear to be his fan. He was removed from the post of the Nodal Officer at the National Health Mission after his name hit the headlines for all the good reasons. The organisation works in coordination with the state government in the fight against encephalitis

He was lauded for “saving lives of many children”, when the state-run hospital was running out of liquid oxygen supply to its neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The hospital ultimately ran out of it and the deficit caused the death of 30 children, within a span of 48 hours, on August 10 and 11.

The closure report filed on the case by the police states, that the allegation of rape levelled against Dr Kafeel has been found “untrue”. The complaint was registered with women police station in Gorakhpur on November 25, 2015.

“It appears that the complainant on the persuasion of some other person fabricated a false story and filed the complaint which is false and baseless,” the investigator said in his report (dated April 3, 2015). NewsClick is in exclusive possession of the closure report.

The controversy erupted after Gita S. Kapoor, vice president of BJP Mahila Morcha (BJP’s women’s wing) in Andheri (West), Mumbai, wrote Twitter, “Rapist?? I heard??” (sic)

Rapist ?? I heard ?? https://t.co/NnPeMSrejR

— Gita S. Kapoor (@GitaSKapoor) August 13, 2017

She wrote this while retweeting a tweet by journalist Barkha Dutt, who had written on microblogging website, “Kafeel Khan. A patriot. A human being. A hero.” (sic)

Kafeel Khan. A patriot. A human being. A hero. #gorakhpur https://t.co/PRFBkW19IA

— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) August 13, 2017

Bollywood actor-turned-politician Paresh Rawal, who is a BJP lawmaker, took no time to declare the doctor a rapist. Re-tweeting Kapoor’s tweet, he wrote, “Yes but Hero in the eyes of ever active Termite Clan !” (sic)

Yes but Hero in the eyes of ever active Termite Clan ! https://t.co/RrRrL3AV14

— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) August 14, 2017

Meanwhile, the sacking of the doctor was condemned on Monday by resident doctors at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) who alleged that he had been made a “scapegoat”.

“With great pain, we have to say that once again a doctor has been made a scapegoat for the infrastructural lapse and failure of the government,” said Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, president of the resident doctors association at AIIMS, accusing the Uttar Pradesh government of “gross neglect of public health”.

“If oxygen, gloves, surgical instruments and basic medicines are not available in the hospital, then who is responsible? According to the government, the doctor is responsible. I request politicians not to spoil this relationship between the patient and the doctor to hide their incompetency,” Bhatti said in a letter written to the government.

Was he made a Scapegoat?

Dr Kafeel not only borrowed oxygen cylinders from his friend's nursing homes to save the lives of children, but also gave his ATM card to withdraw Rs 10,000 to a staff when he came to know that a local supplier was ready to provide oxygen cylinders.

He managed to save many lives and the parents in the hospital said that had it not been for Kafeel’s work, the number of deaths in the past 48 hours would be more.

Dr Kafeel and his team reportedly cried for the children they could not save despite putting massive efforts.

But soon after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Health Minister J P Nadda visited the Gorakhpur hospital after the tragic incident, the good doctor was removed from his post on August 13.

Though the exact reason for his removal has not been sighted there are reports that say he was sacked for collecting oxygen cylinders from his private hospital.

“The basic charge levelled against Dr Kafeel by the office of Director General of Medical Education is that he collected the oxygen cylinders from his private hospital,” suggests a News18 report.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the pediatrician was removed for “dereliction of duty” and “carrying out private practice” while employed with the BRD hospital.

But facts question the government’s action. The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the central police force that protects India’s borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, went on record and said Dr Kafeel’s efforts and SSB's assistance helped in fighting the crisis.

“It was an unprecedented crisis situation at the BRD Medical College on August 10. Dr Kafeel Khan came to the DIG, SSB and requested for a truck so that oxygen cylinders could be collected from various locations and be taken to the medical college,” the News18 report has quoted SSB’s PRO OP Sahu as saying.

He further said that “The DIG also provided 11 jawans to assist the staff at the BRD Medical College. Our truck collected oxygen cylinders for hours from various locations, including a godown in Khalilabad and ferried them to the medical college where it was a situation of acute crisis.

What we don’t know about Dr Kafeel Khan

1. Pushpa Sales, the Lucknow-based company that supplies oxygen cylinders to the medical college, had written a letter to the Principal on August 1, which was sent to the DG Medical Education on August 4. No letter was shot off by the supplier to Dr Kafeel.

2. It is the responsibility of the maintenance department, which is head by Dr Satish Kumar – who also heads the department of anaesthesia – to monitor the oxygen supply.

3. Dr Kafeel was in the warmer procurement committee of the medical college. Not a single warmer was purchased during his tenure. And therefore, the allegation of corruption is baseless.

4. Dr Kafeel discontinued private practice before September 8, 2016.

Bureaucratic procedures and the CM’s visit delayed the payment?

Dr Rajeev Mishra, former principal of BRD Medical College and Hospital, who resigned on August 12 taking responsibility for the deaths , on August 13 blamed the delay in making payment to the oxygen supply company on bureaucratic procedures and the Chief Minister’s visit.

Pushpa Sales, the company contracted to supply liquid oxygen, had cut off the supply, after repeated reminders to the state-run hospital that its dues of approximately Rs 65 lakhs needed to be paid.

Ashutosh Tandon, Minister for medical education in Uttar Pradesh, the government had released funds for the oxygen supply company on August 5 and blamed the principal for not making payments in time.

Defending himself, Dr Mishra told Scroll.in on August 13, “The cut in supply of oxygen is not my fault.”

He said he had written at least three or four letters to the state medical education department in July, asking for the release of about Rs 2 crore allocated to the college in the state budget. The funds were released on August 5.

“But, you must understand, August 5 was a Saturday. The dispatch from the state reached us only on August 7. The process of paying a bill involves clearance from the treasury department. The college sends a bill voucher to the treasury, which is verified by officials, who send back a token. The college sent the voucher on August 7. On August 8, the token from the treasury was released,” he said.

But Chief Minister Adityanath on August 9 came on a visit to the hospital, which kept the hospital administration busy, claimed the former principal, as reported by Scroll.

It was only on August 10 that that the hospital could send the token to the bank for the transfer of Rs 52 lakh to Pushpa Sales’ account.

“We do not do a direct bank transfer via RTGS [real time gross settlement],” said Mishra. He explained that because Pushpa Sales and the hospital have accounts in different banks, the inter-bank transfer took a day.

The report further said Mishra left for Rishikesh on the night of August 9 as a member of a technical committee overseeing the establishment of a laboratory. In the afternoon of August 10, he got a call from Pushpa Sales that the next truck with the liquid oxygen would not be sent.

“He [the owner of Pushpa Sales] has been sending letters threatening to cut the oxygen supply so many times,” said Mishra. “Payments have been delayed, but we have always paid him. I explained to him that it was the bank’s delay and that he would get his payment.”

Mishra said the hospital did not expect the company to cut off supplies.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.