A private school teacher from Tirupur district, Tamil Nadu, died on July 22, after her husband attempted to home-birth. The 28-year-old private school teacher Krithiga’s husband Karthikeyan and his friend Praveen, have both been arrested after she succumbed to excessive bleeding post birth.
As per Tirupur Rural Police, the couple didn’t have faith in modern medicine and therefore attempted to birth their child with the help of YouTube videos.
Krithiga’s father has filed a complaint with the police declaring that it was after giving birth at home that Krithiga’s health deteriorated rapidly. At first a case was filed for suspicious death under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. But it was later changed to Section 304A, which is death by negligence. The husband was arrested after the police found out that no doctor had been consulted for the entirety of Krithiga’s pregnancy. Under Tamil Nadu laws, it is mandatory for pregnant women to register at urban health centres, which the couple had not done.
Pregnant woman, representative photo
An unidentified officer investigating the case told the press, “The problem is that she [Krithiga] died and her father has given a statement that he had advised the couple to meet a doctor”.
As per reports, after Krithiga started bleeding profusely post birth, her husband took her to the hospital but she was declared dead on arrival. The hospital allegedly handed over Krithiga’s body without performing an autopsy, nor did they hand over a death certificate.
