The probe ordered by Bihar Human Rights Commission (BHRC) has raised hopes for justice to the family members of Manju Devi, the pregnant woman who died at Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital in Gaya on November 23.

The resident of Orma village under the jurisdiction of Chakand died after she was denied dialysis by technicians at the dialysis centre, who refused to accept Rs 500 notes as treatment charges. Earlier, an FIR had been lodged with Magadh Medical police station against the two technicians and the duo were sacked.

German company B Braun runs the dialysis centre on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode at the hospital and officials of the company in Patna are inquiring into the incident.

Gora Manjhi (22), the husband of the deceased, said: "I had given two Rs 1,000, two Rs 500 and two Rs 100 notes to the technicians at the dialysis centre, as they had asked for Rs 3,200 as charges. But they refused to accept the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. I had admitted Manju to the hospital on November 14. But the baby was found dead in the womb on November 23. So the doctor suggested dialysis, which could not be carried out owing to the tiff over payment. I am a tractor driver and also work as a farm labourer."

When the matter was published in some local dailies, BHRC took cognisance of the matter and directed the district administration to send a detailed report.

Gaya district magistrate Kumar Ravi said: "In view of the BHRC letter, I have asked Sadar sub-divisional officer Vikas Kumar Jaiswal to conduct a thorough probe into the incident and submit a report. As soon as the probe is complete, we will send it to BHRC. Last Friday, I asked the hospital superintendent, Sudhir Kumar Sinha, to lodge an FIR against the dialysis centre running on the hospital campus. The FIR has been lodged against two technicians and police have started investigations."

The hospital superintendent said: "I had asked dialysis centre technicians to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from patients. But they did not obey, which is a serious matter. A team of the German company from Patna has reached the hospital to probe into the incident."