A former security guard posed as a doctor and performed surgery on an 80-year-old woman in Pakistan, resulting in her death.
The victim, Shameema Begum, died on 6 June, about 2 weeks after the security guard, Muhammad Waheed Butt, attempted to treat her back wound at a public hospital.
The incident happened at Mayo hospital, in the city of Lahore, Pakistan.
What happened?
Begum’s family brought her to the hospital on 17 May to seek treatment for a boil, and she was brought to the surgical ward after examination.
A guard claimed to be a doctor and approached them, offering to help.
Butt (the guard), then took Begum away for surgery, although it isn’t clear what kind of operation he performed.
Begum was then bandaged and discharged, but her bleeding didn’t stop.
Butt then visited Begum for 2 days to change her bandages, and charged the family 500 Pakistani Rupees for each time he visited.
Butt also received an unspecified amount from the family as payment for the operation.
Begum’s condition soon worsened and Butt then offered to take her back tot he hospital.
The family only found out about Butt’s real identity from the staff when they returned to the hospital.
The staff said that Butt was fired from the hospital 2 years prior for attempting to extort money from patients.
Butt has since been arrested and taken into police custody.
An administrative official at the hospital said:
“We can’t keep up with what every doctor and what everyone is doing at all times. It’s a large hospital.”
Images source: Unsplash