Teen’s death at abortion clinic…Cops take statement from victim’s family

Jan 01, 2012 News

Police yesterday took a statement from relatives of 18-year-old Karen Devi Bahdal, who died at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, after undergoing an abortion at a private clinic.
A female relative of the teen told Kaieteur News that they informed police at the Beterverwagting Police Station about Bahdal’s death and that a rank subsequently took a statement from them.
According to the relative, the police promised that they would also question the physician who performed the abortion.
Kaieteur News managed to contact the doctor by phone yesterday but the physician terminated the call when he was asked to comment on the case. He’d previously denied running a clinic or treating Bahdal.
Sources have confirmed that the physician who performed the abortion on Bahdal holds a prominent post at a private hospital. He also operates a clinic in the bottom flat of an East Coast Demerara residence.
Bahdal, a mother of two, and of Vigilance, East Coast Demerara, died in the Georgetown Public Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit last Friday, despite undergoing surgery there to repair a perforated uterus and damaged bowels.
The injuries were reportedly sustained during a botched abortion.
The teen already had two children; a two-year-old and a four-month-old.
Bahdal was reportedly four months pregnant when she had her abortion at the doctor’s clinic on December 23.
Her reputed husband said that after the termination, Bahdal began vomiting continuously while complaining of abdominal pains. He then took her to the GPHC on December 24, where she was immediately admitted.
On Boxing Day, relatives received a call from a doctor from the GPHC, who requested that Bahdal’s husband and one of her relatives meet with him at the hospital.
Hardai Ramroop, an aunt of the teen, said that the doctor told them that Bahdal had to undergo emergency surgery to remove her womb.
The teen underwent surgery on December 26, and the doctor reportedly told relatives that Bahdal’s intestines and her womb were perforated and had to be repaired.
The teen never regained consciousness after her surgery.
Kaieteur News understands Bahdal was given an ultrasound upon her admission to the GPHC, but the effects from the abortion were not immediately detected.
After this, doctors at the hospital observed that the patient’s abdomen was still swollen. She also had a fever and was vomiting.
She underwent a second ultrasound and this time it was observed that there was fluid in her stomach. Bahdal was then taken to the hospital’s operating theatre.
Medical staff then observed that both the teen’s uterus and bowel were perforated, and had her undergo surgery to repair the damage. But by then, fluids from her bowels had already leaked into her stomach, and peritonitis (the presence of bacteria in the stomach) had developed.
The teen’s condition worsened and she was taken to the Intensive Care Unit and placed on a ventilator. According to sources, everything was done to save Bahdal’s life, but to no avail.
She eventually succumbed around 08:00 hrs yesterday.
Kaieteur News understands that the physician who performed the abortion had once worked at the GPHC in the gynecology department, but is not a specialist in the field.
It is unclear whether he is among physicians approved by the Ministry of Health to terminate pregnancies.