News

Man Went for a COVID Vaccine. He Came Back Sterilized Instead.

A healthcare worker is being accused of sterilizing a man with speech and hearing impairment in order to meet her work targets.
Pallavi Pundir
Jakarta, ID
disability, man, sterilization, vasectomy, india, scam, investigation
The Indian government has a Family Planning Programme that encourages sterilization. But it has taken a dark turn in the past with millions of men wforced into it. Photo: Getty Images

The family of a man with disabilities in Uttar Pradesh, India claims that a government healthcare worker took him to the hospital on the pretext of getting him a COVID-19 vaccine, but he ended up sterilized instead. 

Over the weekend, a community health worker picked up 40-year-old Dhruv Kumar, who has speech and hearing impairment, from his home and took him to a local hospital where he was allegedly sterilized without his consent, his brother Ashok told news outlets on July 13.

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According to Ashok, Dhruv fell unconscious shortly after the health worker brought him home, and the family rushed him back to the hospital, where they were informed about his sterilization.

The healthcare worker, Neelam Kumari, promised to pay Dhruv INR3,500 ($47) for getting the “vaccination,” Ashok added. The hospital has launched an investigation into the incident.  

Police officials at the Awagarh police station, where the victim’s family submitted an application to lodge a criminal complaint, told VICE World News that the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the district is investigating. “The police complaint is not registered yet because an inquiry is currently on. We are waiting for the CMO's investigation result,” said Awagarh police station house officer Manvendra Tyagi. 

India’s vaccination campaign has been riddled with scams and fraudulent drives. In Mumbai, India’s financial capital, thousands were administered saltwater instead of COVID-19 vaccines at nearly a dozen private vaccine sites for over two months. In Uttar Pradesh, three elderly women were given rabies shots at a community health centre in April.

Police have launched investigations and made a number of arrests over these vaccination scams. 

Approximately 900,000 community healthcare workers, called “Accredited Social Health Activists,” were deployed as India's first line of defence to manage the pandemic, and carry out vaccination drives. 

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Uttar Pradesh is home to some 220 million people and has one of the highest COVID-19 cases in the country. The state consistently ranks low on development indices and has a high crime rate

Ashok now demands legal action against the health worker Kumari.

A Times of India news report quoted an anonymous source saying Kumari was allegedly trying to complete her sterilization target for July 11’s World Population Day. India has a Family Planning Programme that encourages sterilization, which is completely voluntary. However, the campaign has taken a “gruesome” turn in the past when millions of men were forced into it.

Umesh Kumar Tripathi, the CMO of the district, denied allegations of deception or that Kumari was trying to meet her targets. “Community healthcare workers go house-to-house to vaccinate people, and get compensated very meagerly. I don’t see any monetary motive behind this,” he told VICE World News. 

“Neelam, the healthcare worker, told us during the investigation that the family presented this man and told her that he is jobless and has three children, and that he can be sterilized,” Tripathi said. 

Police have yet to communicate with Dhruv, he added. “As long as the affected person doesn’t come forward, we can’t get any clarity in the case.” 

VICE World News could not immediately contact Dhruv’s family, but Ashok told The Times of India that their family is uneducated and were not aware of COVID-19 vaccine protocols. Neelam, the healthcare worker, came to their house and sought permission to take Dhruv for vaccination, Ashok said. 

“For availing the benefit of the government scheme, [Neelam] asked for my brother’s bank passbook and Aadhaar card,” he added. Aadhaar is the Indian social security number based on citizens’ biometric and demographic data. 

“I made a big mistake by trusting her,” Ashok said.

Tripathi said the hospital staff believed Dhruv knew he was being sterilized. “They usually talk to patients, and Dhruv appeared to have understood what was happening,” the police officer said. “We’re still looking into the family’s claims.”

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