Narayangarh, October 15:

The bereaved family of Saraswoti Kandel of Chitwan’s Khairahani VDC-4 halted traffic at Khairahani along the East-West Highway today, claiming that she died due to negligence of physicians at the Medical College Teaching Hospital, Bharatpur.

Kandel, 22, was admitted to the hospital on September 8 after she suffered from fever. But she was later transferred to the HAMS Hospital, Kathmandu, for further treatment on September 11, where she died on October 9.

Her kin and locals alleged that the physicians at the medical college did not treat Kandel seriously. Kandel’s elder brother Mukti Kandel said the chakkajam was staged, as the talks with the hospital administration did not yield result. The highway obstruction would continue as long as our demands were not fulfiled, he said.

It is learnt that the talks failed to resume as Chitwan Chief District Officer and head of the teaching hospital were out of the station.

Meanwhile, a woman police Karuna Maharjan was injured in a clash between the agitating family and the police on the District Administration Office premises. Maharjan is undergoing treatment at the Bharatpur Hospital.

The agitating family demanded that the medical college apologise in public for the death and provide compensation to them.