Narayangarh, May 20, 2008

Invalidating earlier claims by Maoists that Ramhari Shrestha died on the way to Kathmandu on May 10, doctors and staffers at a Bharatpur-based teaching hospital said Shrestha died in the hospital while undergoing treatment on May 8.

Dr Bhojraj Adhikari, who was involved in Shrestha’s treatment, said Shrestha was admitted in the emergency ward of the hospital at 8:45 pm on May 7 in an unconscious state and he died in ICU at 11 am the next day. He said Shrestha’s kidneys, lungs and heart had already stopped functioning when he was admitted to ICU. He said he died two hours after being taken to ICU. The PLA’s third division commander Kali Bahadur Kham Magar (Bibidh) had earlier said Shrestha, who was critically injured from the beating of PLA men Keshab Adhikari (Raghu) and Gangaram Thapa (Atom), died on the way to Kathmandu and his body was thrown into Trishuli.

PLA commander Govinda Bahadur Batala (Jibit), who along with Raghu and Atom had kidnapped Shrestha and who is in police custody, had told journalists on Friday that Shrestha died on May 10 and he was not taken to the hospital.

According to the records available in the hospital, Shrestha’s registration number was 12133 and his address has been mentioned as Jutpani-3, Chitwan.

Hospital staffers said there were beating marks all over Shrestha’s body. Doctors and staffers said they came to the fore to reveal the facts after finding different version of the story about Shrestha’s killing in the media.

Telemedicine? Mantras over phone do the trick

Taplejung, May 20, 2008

This can be a challenge for telemedicine technique which is gaining in popularity in developing countries like Nepal where a patient can get world class medical consultation through a network of volunteering international experts. Or this can just be a combination of rustic method and the latest information and communication technology that worked to everyone’s amazement!

A shaman from Phungling village development committee-1 chanted mantras over a cellular mobile phone into the ears of sick Uma Devi Niraula, 49, at Dhoku VDC-9 and she was was cured! The shaman and the patient were eight miles away. Doctors sent Niraula back from the Taplejung district hospital saying cure of her ‘unidentified’ disease was beyond their scope and the shaman brought his innovation to use.

Uma had been falling unconscious time and again for a week and the doctors told her that they would not be able to cure her. The Niraula family had heard of the shaman and were preparing to take her to Phungling but shaman Devi Prasad said he would be able to cure her by chanting mantras through the mobile phone. Uma Devi’s son rang Devi Prasad on his mobile phone and let her mother hear the mantras and in no more than 10 minutes Uma Devi began conversing with the shaman.