On 14th June, many media houses reported that a newborn baby died because the doctors didn't attend the child due to their ongoing strike. A photographer Damyanti Dutta shared the picture of a father crying while holding his newborn child. She claimed that the father lost his newborn because doctors wouldn’t treat the baby. Her tweet reads:

Between #Savethedoctors and #SaveBengal, here is a father who lost his newborn because doctors wouldn’t treat the baby. Today's @MyAnandaBazar pix.

A Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika published the picture with the same claim.

India Today also covered the story while referring to Damyanti Dutta's tweet.

ANI quoted the child's father Abhijit, "It is my bad luck. My child died due to lack of treatment. He was not attended by any doctor because of their strike." 

Quoting the father ANI further reports that the child was born on June 11 and was ailing with a breathing problem. His condition deteriorated on June 12, the doctors of the hospital asked him to go to the child-specialist hospital. Child's father claimed that he went to several hospitals but they did not attend the ailing child after which the child died on June 13 in the morning.

The deceased child's father also alleged that the state's health department did not respond to his call.

ANI's report was also published by NDTV putting the entire blame on Doctors.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh also made a similar claim on Twitter.

ANI misquoted the Child's Father

We were able to access the video statement of the child's father in which he can be heard saying in Bengali which roughly translates to “RG Kar, Medical, Chittaranjan, Police didn't allow us to enter, I told them my child is serious, I had paper from Sagar Dutta college(which had recommended us to go to better hospital), junior doctors tried their best, they were crying, but police didn't let us in, they said they (junior doctors) called health ministry for four times but no one picked up the phone”.

You can watch the video here which is in Bengali:

Conclusion: The claim that doctors refused to treat the child appears false as per the statement given by the child's father. According to him juniors doctors tried their best but police didn't allow him to enter the hospital.

About the Doctor's Strike

A mob of around 200 people attacked and assaulted two female and a male interns (students) of NRS Medical College and Hospital after a 82-year-old patient Mohammad Sayeed died.

After this incident doctors in Bengal launched a massive protest that has now spread across the entire country with services being disrupted in many cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and others.