Sexagenarian Kaushalya Devi, who lost her right palm to flawed treatment at a private nursing home in the town, staged a demonstration for justice in front of the Hazaribagh district collectorate on Tuesday.

Squatting for three long hours in the scorching sun, 65-year-old Kaushalya demanded immediate police action against Prem Kumar, the doctor who allegedly cast a plaster on her fractured wrist so tight that it resulted in gangrene and prompted amputation.

"We will lodge an FIR against him (the doctor) by Wednesday and I will request the police to take stern steps," she said, accusing Kumar of forging his medical credentials.

The Hazaribagh unit of CPM is supporting Kaushalya and the party planned Tuesday's protest programme.

District CPM secretary Ganesh Kumar Verma said that they had handed over a memorandum to deputy commissioner Mukesh Kumar, seeking compensation for Kaushalya and had also asked the administration to review licences of all nursing homes functioning in the district.

"The Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act asks doctors to obtain permission from the civil surgeon before taking up private practice. We want this to be implemented strictly," Verma added.

But, for the widowed mother of three, justice is more important. " Mera kata haath mange insaaf (My severed hand demands justice). Before compensation and other benefits, I want justice and that is only possible when Prem Kumar goes to jail and is barred from practising," she added.

Deputy commissioner Kumar promised help. "I will try my best to give her what is due. She needs to submit a written application for that. Tomorrow (Wednesday), I will constitute a team of three members, including a representative from the civil surgeon's office, to conduct raids at clinics and zero in on quacks," he said.

On May 6, Kaushalya had fallen down while doing household chores. An X-ray showed two fractures on her wrist and Prem Kumar plastered her hand for Rs 1,800.

On May 18, she was taken to RIMS, Ranchi, with "intolerable pain". Doctors said she had gangrene, a potentially life-threatening decomposition of tissues caused by insufficient blood supply or necrosis and recommended amputation.

On June 5, doctors at Hazaribagh Sadar Hospital performed the surgery, having confirmed that the plaster was cast so tightly that it blocked blood flow and resulted in permanent tissue damage.