Burnt 80 per cent, woman delivers baby in autorickshaw

Indian Express: A four-day-old baby boy whose mother died of burns hours after giving birth to him in an autorickshaw while she was being rushed to a hospital is facing a bleak future with the family, reeling under poverty, saying it would be tough for them to look after the baby and the father, who has been living separately of late, not even attending the funeral of his wife.

Twenty-six-year-old Sarika Kamble, who suffered nearly 80 per cent burns while cooking at her hutment on Thursday night, died seven hours after giving birth to her fifth child.

At the funeral the next day, Sarika’s brothers lit the pyre as her husband failed to turn up. He had been living separately following a family quarrel. “Now who will look after the five children? We ourselves are fighting for survival,” says Sarika’s father, 65-year-old Tukaram Jogdand.

Sarika’s sister Rani Ohal says Sarika was cooking on a “choolah” in the verandah of the house when her saree caught fire. “It was pitch dark as electricity had failed. A piece of burning wood fell on Sarika’s saree. Before she could realise what had happened, Sarika was in flames. Being nine months pregnant, she could not get up and move away fast. I rushed to get water to douse the flames and when I returned she was slumped on the choolah itself,” says Rani.

Sarika’s brother called an autorickshaw. The family had a tough time lifting the injured Sarika and putting her in the vehicle in the narrow bylanes of Dalvinagar in Chinchwad where the incident occurred. “The moment we tried to lift her, Sarika’s scream unnerved us,” says Santosh Jogdand, her younger brother.

After she was put in the rickshaw, it took another 15 minutes to reach Yeshwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital at Sant Tukaram Nagar. Before the rickshaw could enter the gates, Sarika gave birth to the baby. “I was following the autorickshaw on a two-wheeler. As the rickshaw stopped at YCMH, Sarika delivered the child. I informed the doctors who ordered a stretcher to shift Sarika to the emergency ward,” says Pravin.

YCM hospital medical superintendent Dr Anand Jagdale said the post-delivery procedure required utmost care and expertise as the patient had suffered nearly 80 per cent burns. “Our doctors carried out the task successfully after which the patient was taken to Sassoon hospital for further treatment,” he said. But around 3 in the morning, Sarika succumbed to the burns. At her cremation in the afternoon, only her family barring her husband was present. Sarika’s oldest son is nine-years-old.

“Sarika’s four children attend a private school. My brother and I work as contract labourers earning around Rs 3,000 per month. It will be difficult for us to look after the five children, but we won’t return them to their father. We will do anything for them,” says Pravin, who adds that is sister died before she could even see her fifth baby.

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