The nine-year-old girl died on Jan 8, 2022
Advocate Aashuutosh Shrivastava, appearing for Lobos, said the complaint filed in 2022 was examined on oath under Section 200 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and an inquiry under Section 202 was conducted through Koregaon Park police station. A police report on April 22, 2026, stated that the child’s treatment records had been referred to an expert committee at Sassoon General Hospital. The complainants relied on the committee’s communication on March 4, 2026, and said it recorded a prima facie opinion of medical negligence in the treatment provided by the treating doctor. A CT scan on Dec 30, 2021, indicated that the girl was suffering from ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) or pneumonia, but the treatment of a suspected bacterial infection allegedly continued, according to the complaint. Lobos alleged that an outside medical opinion recommending ventilator support was obtained only on Jan 7, 2022. Both of them said the girl should have been moved to a ventilator much earlier as the chances of survival were 50%.
“The JMFC considered the sworn verification and the documents on record, and found sufficient prima facie grounds to proceed against the accused,” Shrivastava said. In a statement issued on behalf of its legal adviser Manjusha Kulkarni, Ruby Hall Clinic said, “We have no knowledge of this matter. We have not received any summons till date. The deceased patient’s relatives claimed that they approached two expert doctors for a second opinion. Lobos alleged that Ruby Hall Clinic’s Wanowrie unit did not have ventilator facilities for paediatric patients. She was allegedly put on a ventilator generally used for adults. The girl was shifted to the Sassoon Road facility after her condition deteriorated further, and she died there.
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Pune: Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Samruddhi Narvekar last week took cognisance of a complaint alleging medical negligence leading to the death of a nine-year-old girl at Ruby Hall Clinic in Jan 2022 and ordered registration of a criminal case. Narvekar’s order passed on Sept 19 stated that there were enough prima facie grounds to proceed against the accused under sections 269, 304-A, 336, 338, 426 and 120-B, read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court issued summons to 10 accused, including the hospital’s managing trustee, returnable on Oct 19. The deceased girl, Rhea Rohan Lobo, was admitted to Ruby Hall Clinic’s Wanowrie unit on Dec 27, 2021. She was shifted to its Sassoon Road facility after her condition deteriorated, and died there on Jan 8, 2022.
Rhea’s uncles, Sunil Savio Lobo and Neil Lobo, filed the complaint over her treatment at the hospital.