A 17-year-old college student’s death after treatment at Lakshmi Clinic in Piriyapatna has triggered a protest by her relatives and a direction to close the facility pending investigation, following allegations of medical negligence.
Relatives placed the student’s body outside the clinic on Thursday and demanded that the facility be shut and its owner arrested. The protest later escalated when demonstrators allegedly broke a window and attempted to enter the clinic. Police struggled to control the crowd, while a road blockade continued for more than an hour.
The protesters also raised slogans against the taluk health officer and district health officer. Former legislator K. Mahadev and Janata Dal (Secular) leader P. M. Prasanna visited the protesters and sought details of the incident. Prasanna later held a separate meeting with the student’s relatives and farmers’ organisation leaders before speaking to the clinic head, Dr Prakash Baburao.
The protest ended after the clinic head agreed to provide compensation of ₹15 lakh to the deceased student’s family, according to the report. The compensation agreement does not determine whether negligence occurred, and the allegations remain subject to the police and health authorities’ inquiry.
The student, Suma, was a resident of Bettadapura and the daughter of Hanumanthu. She was pursuing a degree at the government college in Bettadapura. According to the account given in the report, she was taken to Lakshmi Clinic on the morning of November 1 after developing severe abdominal pain and was admitted for treatment under Dr Prakash Babu.
Her relatives said that her left hand became severely swollen after treatment at the clinic. On the night of November 2, at around 9 pm, the doctor shifted her to a hospital in Mysuru for further treatment in the clinic’s ambulance. Suma died at the Mysuru hospital on the morning of November 4.
A complaint submitted to the police alleged that negligence by Dr Prakash Baburao caused the death and that the swelling in her left hand contributed to her condition. The report does not establish the medical cause of death independently and does not include a response from the doctor addressing the negligence allegation.
Piriyapatna police have registered a case of unnatural death. The health department has also directed that the clinic be locked, with police instructed to enforce the closure. Taluk health officer Dr Prakash said the facility would be reopened after the investigation is completed.
The case now involves parallel police and health department processes: determining the circumstances of Suma’s death and examining whether the clinic complied with applicable treatment and patient-safety requirements. The next formal steps are the investigation and the health authorities’ decision on when the clinic can reopen.
