NHRC notice to J-K admin, DGP over death of woman due to malfunctioning lift at hospital

New Delhi, Nov 17 (PTI) The NHRC on Monday said it has issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the UT's police chief over reported negligence of authorities of a super speciality hospital in not maintaining a lift that led to the death of an old woman.

Reportedly, the lift abruptly started moving upwards at a high speed when she stepped into it, resulting in serious injuries to her, the National Human Rights Commission said.

The victim struggled in the ICU for five days before succumbing to her injuries, the report said.

The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that alleged negligence of authorities in not maintaining the lift at a super speciality hospital in Jammu resulted in the death of a 58-year-old woman, it said in a statement.

The commission has observed that the content of the news report, if true, raises serious issues of violation of human rights.

Therefore, it has issued notices to the chief secretary and the director general of police of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, seeking a detailed report in two weeks, it said.

According to the media report, carried on November 6, it took about 15 minutes to retrieve her from the lift, the rights panel said.

Citing "negligence" by the hospital, her relatives alleged that there was no lift operator or security guard present. They also alleged that the authorities failed to display any warning sign about the technical issues of the malfunctioning in the lift, it said. PTI KND SKY SKY