Darbhanga: At a time when hundreds of families in Bihar are reeling under the horrific deaths due to suspected encephalitis which has claimed lives of over 170 children, a new incident of medical negligence has came to light. A government hospital in Bihar's Dharbhanga district has come under fire after an orthopedic doctor of Darbhanga Medical College plastered wrong hand of a boy who fell from a mango tree. According to a report by news agency ANI, a seven-year-old boy named Faijan fell from a mango tree and fractured his left hand. When he was taken to get medical assistant from the doctor, he cast the plaster on his right hand instead.

"My left hand was fractured but they plastered my right hand. I tried telling them while they were giving me the treatment but they did not listen to me," the victim said. His family members have described it as a gross negligence and demanded stern action against the guilty doctors. Faijan's mother called it utter negligence. "An investigation should be carried out. We were not even provided with a single tablet by the hospital," Faijan's mother said.

After the matter reached to higher authorities, Bihar's Health Minister Mangal Pandey ordered an investigation into the matter and promised stern action against the doctors after the probe report comes. "Health Minister has asked me to investigate the matter and seek clarification from the concerned team regarding this negligence. I condemn this incident and I am trying to fix the issue. People involved in the incident will be punished," said Dr Raj Ranjan Prasad, superintendent of the medical center.

The fresh incident of negligence comes amid state government being highly criticised for death of over 170 children due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the past 20 days. Along in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, the death toll mounted to 132. One more child lost his live after fighting from the deadly disease earlier in the day.

According to data provided by the state Health department in Patna, 23 out of 40 districts have so far been affected by the outbreak and the total number of AES cases registered since June 1 was 729. The health department has attributed the cause of at least 120 deaths to hypoglycemia -- one of the many pathological conditions that fall under the umbrella term AES -- characterized by sudden drop in blood sugar levels.

Several leaders from Opposition have demanded resignation of Bihar Health Minister, a BJP leader, due to his alleged failure to check the outbreak of brain fever which has claimed more than 170 lives. Even the Supreme Court had said the deaths of children in Muzaffarpur due to the outbreak of AES is a matter of 'grave concern' and directed the Centre and the Bihar government to file their response on medical care facilities there within a week.