FATALITY rage: Shattered window panes at the Shibpur clinic on Sunday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A mob vandalised a private hospital in Shibpur, Howrah, following the death of a middle-aged woman on Sunday morning.

Akhtari Banu, 42, a resident of Hem Ghosh Lane in the Ghoshbagan area, was admitted to Shree Jain Hospital & Research Centre on January 10. ?At the time of admission, her general condition was very poor,? said hospital administrator Manoj Kumar Mishra.

The patient underwent a colostomy surgery as ?her excreta was coming out of her mouth?. ?There was a large tumour in her belly. Because of her poor condition, we couldn?t operate on her. So, we can?t say off-hand whether the tumour was malignant or not,? Mishra added.

Around 7 am on Sunday, Banu died in the hospital.

Thereafter, a mob, including her relatives, neighbours and some local politicians, ransacked the hospital, according to district police.

The mob, which shattered the window panes of the cash counter, had to be lathicharged by forces from Shibpur police station. ?Three persons were arrested. However, no complaint was lodged by either side,? said police.

?The onus of my sister?s death lies entirely on the hospital. For the past one-and-a-half months, they have taken a lot of money for her treatment, claiming that she had cancer,? alleged Md. Ali, who identified himself as ?a brother of the dead woman?.

The treatment cost was being paid by an NGO.

?We are considering whether or not to lodge an FIR with Shibpur police station. Since ours is a charitable trust, I can?t take the decision without consulting my colleagues first,? hospital administrator Mishra said.

According to police, the husband of the dead woman, Akbar Ali, was against a post-mortem, which is the only way to ascertain the cause of death.

?We demand the truth. We have a committee that will launch an investigation into the matter soon. If the death was caused by any negligence on our part, the responsible person will be punished,? Mishra asserted.

?But why aren?t those people agreeing to a post-mortem?? he wondered. ?They are threatening to close down our hospital within a month.?

?We won?t allow the hospital to admit any more patients. From tomorrow, we will set up a blockade at the gate and bar all patients from admission,? said local Congress leader Md. Jamaluddin.