Odisha Employee Alleges Negligence Led to Baby's Death After Denied Leave During Labor Pain

Kendrapara: A 26-year-old Odisha government employee claimed that she lost her child in womb after allegedly being denied leave by a Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) while experiencing severe labour pain at her office in Kendrapara district.

incident occurred on October 25 but came to light on Tuesday when woman, Barsha Priyarshini, shared her story with media.

Barsha, an employee of Women and Child Development Department in district's Derabish block, said she was in her seventh month of pregnancy and felt intense pain at work.

She alleged that she requested CDPO Snehalata Sahoo and or officials to take her to hospital, but y igred her pleas. Barsha also claimed that Snehalata mistreated her.

Later, Barsha's relatives took her to a private hospital in Kendrapara, where an ultrasound revealed that her baby h died. She claimed that "mental harassment and gross negligence" of CDPO led to her loss and also filed a written complaint to district collector, demanding strict action against Sahoo.

Nilu Mohapatra, ditional district magistrate (M), Kendrapara said, "After getting complaint, district ministration has directed District Social Welfare Officer (DSWO) to submit a report after investigating matter. After getting report, we will take action." Expressing concern over incident, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida in a post on X said she discussed about incident with Kendrapara collector and directed him to immediately conduct a detailed investigation and submit a report.

Reacting to allegation, CDPO said she was unaware of Barsha's suffering.

"A committee will be formed to investigate matter. After that, we will submit our report," said Marama Swain, DSWO, Kendrapara. 

(Except heline, this story is t edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed)