An unconscious Loganayaki was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival; baby safe.
Loganayaki and Madhesh were married for two years. (Supplied)
V Loganayaki went into labour around 3 am on Tuesday, 22 August, and delivered a boy assisted by her husband and elderly relatives at her mother’s residence in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district.
The baby boy will never see his mother.
Soon after delivery, the relatives rushed the 27-year-old unconscious and heavily bleeding woman to a private hospital where the doctors declared her dead on arrival. The newborn is now under neonatal intensive care. He is safe.
The doctors were shocked to learn that her husband Madhesh assisted in the delivery armed with the knowledge gathered from YouTube videos.
Madhesh and Loganayaki opted for home birthing though both were post-graduates in Agriculture. Their ideal was to be in sync with nature.
The police have now learnt that the couple was growing their food on Madhesh’s farmland at Anumanthapuram near Kariyamangalam in Dharmapuri. They ate only those vegetables and grains they had organically grown. Their wedding feast was also prepared with home-grown ingredients.
Loganayaki became pregnant two years after their marriage. The couple did visit the village nurse but rejected treatment from the primary health centre.
Village nurse Bhagyalakshmi said Loganayaki underwent multiple medical check-ups in Dharmapuri during the initial days of her pregnancy. But later, she refused to take tablets and vaccines.
“When I asked them to come for a check-up, the couple said they were getting treatment from a private hospital. They were issued with an RCH (Reproductive and Child Health) Identification Number at Dharmapuri,” the nurse said.
During the pregnancy, Loganayaki reportedly took natural supplements but shunned tablets. The couple also decided to go natural and opted for home birthing.
In the first week of August, Loganayaki and Madhesh shifted to her mother’s house in Krishnagiri’s Puliyampatti village for delivery.
The relatives prepared a “delivery room” in the house when she went into labour. Madhesh kept referring to YouTube videos even as Loganayaki delivered the baby. It was then that the man noticed that the umbilical cord had not come out properly and he could not cut it.
Meanwhile, an excessively bleeding Loganayaki suffered seizures and fell unconscious. With no option left, the family rushed the mother and child to a private hospital at Pochamballi. However, it was too late.
After the woman was declared dead, her relatives took the body home and conducted the funeral.
The police intervened after Bhagyalakshmi, the village nurse, alerted them of the death, and registered a case under 174 CrPC for suspicious death. The private hospital had informed the Revenue Divisional Office (RDO), the local PHC, and the village nurse.
Sources said Madhesh injured himself after Loganayaki’s death.
Krishnagiri District Collector KM Sarayu said an RDO-level probe had been ordered soon after the incident came to light.
“Both of them had MSc degrees in Agriculture and they were committed to having a normal, natural delivery. We have registered an FIR and the RDO report will be submitted by today (Wednesday, 23 August) evening,”, she told South First.
“The village nurse and the Anganwadi worker will be following up with the newly-married women in their respective villages and once they get pregnant, their details will be recorded in the PICME (Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation) portal. Pregnant women should register themselves with the portal since the Government of Tamil Nadu has mandated to register all pregnancies,” Sarayu added.
Stating that the Loganayaki’s details were also recorded on the PICME portal, the collector said, “Since the couple travelled from another district, their details were not with the local health unit.”
Sarayu confirmed that the newborn is not in danger and he is being monitored.
During the enquiry, Madhesh reportedly told the RDO, S Babu, the decision to go for a normal delivery at home was mutual. However, he added that he was responsible for his wife’s death.
The police have booked Madhesh and his relatives. The man is likely to be arrested by Wednesday evening, an officer attached to the Pochamballi police station told South First.
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