Islampur, July 27: A gynaecologist attached to the subdivisional hospital here has been asked to pay Rs 13.06 lakh to the father of a child born with congenital defects.

“(The doctor) insisted on tests in his own laboratory. Dr Balaram Sinha unnecessarily deferred treatment and made wrong diagnosis and held up the patient under his control for his personal gain,” the North Dinajpur consumer redressal forum said in the order.

Sinha has to pay Rs 12 lakh to Debabrata Ghosh to keep his “deformed baby” alive. He has to pay another Rs 1.06 lakh that Ghosh has spent on litigation and the two-and-a-half-year-old baby’s medical costs.

The money has to be paid within 30 days, failing which the doctor has to pay 9 per cent on the amount.

Ghosh and his wife Suchitra had complained to the forum last September that the doctor had misled them by saying the foetus was healthy. She gave birth to an underweight girl with severe eye and heart problems on April 19, 2006.