Medical Negligence: Who Killed Simran?

Medical Negligence: The Tragic Case of Simran Chhabra

Simran Chhabra, a vibrant 22-year-old girl, walked into a Gurugram hospital with nothing more than a mild fever on January 21, 2023. What should have been a routine hospital visit turned into a tragedy for the Chhabra family. Within minutes of walking into the hospital, Simran was found dead.

Just two days earlier, on January 19, Simran was at the center of a joyous family gathering, meticulously managing every detail. “Simran had organised the entire function,” her brother, Sourabh Chhabra, shares. “She decided who would cook, which guests would come, and invited everyone personally. She was full of energy.”

By January 21, however, her world—and her family’s—was turned upside down. Feeling slightly feverish, Simran decided to visit Jagdmba Medical Centre in Gurugram with her brother. Sourabh recalled how routine the day initially seemed. “We reached the hospital around 1 PM. After completing registration, her vitals were checked and found to be normal. At 1:15 PM, we met the doctor, who suggested an injection of Dynapar for instant fever relief. I asked if it was necessary, but the doctor insisted it was due to the high spread of infections. Trusting him, we agreed.”

The doctor handed a slip to the nursing staff, instructing them to administer the injection—a decision that would have devastating consequences.

A Routine Injection Turns Fatal

The moment the injection was administered, Simran’s condition deteriorated alarmingly. She began complaining of intense itching and became visibly distressed. “Simran said, ‘My whole body is itching. You have administered the wrong injection. What have you done to me?’” Sourabh recalled. Instead of addressing her concerns, the medical staff dismissed her symptoms as overreaction, he alleges.

"Despite her protests, the nurse completed the full dose of the injection. Within moments, Simran collapsed, froth forming at her mouth as she lost consciousness. She fell on the bed, and I noticed she

Medical Negligence: The Tragic Case of Simran Chhabra

Simran Chhabra, a vibrant 22-year-old girl, walked into a Gurugram hospital with nothing more than a mild fever on January 21, 2023. What should have been a routine hospital visit turned into a tragedy for the Chhabra family. Within minutes of walking into the hospital, Simran was found dead.

Just two days earlier, on January 19, Simran was at the center of a joyous family gathering, meticulously managing every detail. “Simran had organised the entire function,” her brother, Sourabh Chhabra, shares. “She decided who would cook, which guests would come, and invited everyone personally. She was full of energy.”

By January 21, however, her world—and her family’s—was turned upside down. Feeling slightly feverish, Simran decided to visit Jagdmba Medical Centre in Gurugram with her brother. Sourabh recalled how routine the day initially seemed. “We reached the hospital around 1 PM. After completing registration, her vitals were checked and found to be normal. At 1:15 PM, we met the doctor, who suggested an injection of Dynapar for instant fever relief. I asked if it was necessary, but the doctor insisted it was due to the high spread of infections. Trusting him, we agreed.”

The doctor handed a slip to the nursing staff, instructing them to administer the injection—a decision that would have devastating consequences.

A Routine Injection Turns Fatal

The moment the injection was administered, Simran’s condition deteriorated alarmingly. She began complaining of intense itching and became visibly distressed. “Simran said, ‘My whole body is itching. You have administered the wrong injection. What have you done to me?’” Sourabh recalled. Instead of addressing her concerns, the medical staff dismissed her symptoms as overreaction, he alleges.

"Despite her protests, the nurse completed the full dose of the injection. Within moments, Simran collapsed, froth forming at her mouth as she lost consciousness. She fell on the bed, and I noticed she had started urinating," Sourabh describes, his voice breaking.

Panic set in as Simran’s condition worsened, but the hospital’s response left much to be desired. “The doctor came and saw the froth at her mouth and said, ‘I can’t do anything.’ I begged her to help, but she simply said that Dr. Rohit Lalit would see her,” Sourabh says. He was then pushed out of the room while staff scrambled inside, he states to The Probe.

Shortly after, a male staff member emerged and urged Sourabh to arrange a vehicle immediately. “I asked what had happened and why there was an emergency when everything had seemed fine. He just told me to get a vehicle and went back inside,” Sourabh recounts.

A Tragic Chain of Events: "Medical Negligence to Cover-Up"

The nightmare for Simran Chhabra’s family didn’t end with her untimely demise. What followed were events that have left them shaken and battling against an unyielding system. Sourabh alleges that the hospital’s response to her deteriorating condition was nothing short of shocking. Despite the gravity of the situation, the hospital failed to arrange an ambulance, leaving him to seek help from a nearby shopkeeper to transfer Simran to another hospital in a private car.

"The hospital staff took me outside. There was a shop nearby, and the shop owner was parking his car. The doctor asked him to help, and without hesitation, he brought his Celerio car to the hospital gate. They made Simran lie in the back seat, but she couldn’t lie flat because the seat was too small. Instead, they had her sit upright, resting her head on a female staff member’s shoulder. By the time we reached Aryan Hospital at 1:32 PM, there was no stretcher available. The car driver had to lift Simran with his hands to place her on a stretcher inside the hospital," Sourabh recounts.

Tragically, upon arrival, the doctors at Aryan Hospital declared that Simran had been brought in dead. Sourabh, overwhelmed with grief, was left alone to process the devastating news.

Simran’s mother, Rajni Chhabra, is still grappling with the loss of her daughter. For her, the tragedy began with a phone call that turned her world upside down. "She was completely fine when she left the house," Rajni states, her voice trembling. "Then, all of a sudden, I got a call saying something dreadful had happened to her."

In her desperation, she rushed to Aryan Hospital in an auto-rickshaw. On arrival, she was met with the devastating news of her daughter's death from the staff of the hospital. "I asked the nurse what they had done, and she said, ‘Aunty, I did not do anything. She came like this only from another hospital.’"

After Simran’s death, her family alleges a disturbing series of events involving the police and the Jagdmba Medical Centre's management. Sourabh claims that Simran’s viscera samples, critical for the investigation, were kept at the police station for an extended period instead of being sent for forensic analysis. "We asked the Investigating Officer (IO) about the samples, and he said they were still at the police station, even after 10 days," Sourabh shares. "We told the cop that the police station doesn’t have the facilities to store viscera samples safely, but he dismissed our concerns, saying sometimes it takes a year for it (viscera samples) to reach the laboratoy."

More troubling were allegations surrounding the hospital’s CCTV footage, which the police failed to collect as evidence. "We asked the IO if they had collected the CCTV footage from Jagdmba Medical Centre. They hadn’t. When we insisted that they should, they accused us of building unnecessary pressure," Sourabh says.

On February 3, when Simran’s brother-in-law, Paras Juneja, visited the Jagdmba Medical Centre to inquire about the CCTV footage, the family faced further harassment. "As soon as Paras left the hospital, he got a call from a cop accusing him of vandalising the hospital and intimidating staff," Sourabh states.

The Chhabra family’s quest for answers and justice has become a chilling reminder of the challenges many families face when seeking justice in cases of alleged medical negligence. 

We also spoke to Paras Juneja, Simran’s relative, who described a critical turning point in the case. Paras explained that after speaking with the police, he went to Jagdmba Medical Centre to retrieve the CCTV footage. However, what followed was a series of shocking events. He alleges that instead of receiving cooperation, a false FIR was filed against him.

"I was shocked when I discovered that the police had neither collected the CCTV footage nor sent the viscera samples for forensic testing. I asked them if I should try to collect the footage myself, and the police officer replied, 'If they give it to you, take it.' So, I reached out to the hospital. The doctor I spoke to asked me to visit the hospital. When I arrived, I connected the doctor with the police over the phone. What I later uncovered from my phone’s automatic call recording was deeply troubling," narrates Paras.

Paras added, "The officer on the call told the doctor, 'A notice has been issued for the CCTV footage. If you have it, hand it over. If not, provide a written explanation.' The doctor immediately responded, 'Tomorrow, you can take the written explanation from me.' This raised serious doubts in my mind—if the police were prompting the doctor in this manner, why was I sent to retrieve the footage in the first place?"

Shortly after this interaction, Paras alleges, a false FIR was filed against him. A subsequent investigation by the Crime Branch found the FIR baseless, with witnesses confirming his innocence. However, the family points to this as evidence of systemic efforts to intimidate them into abandoning their pursuit of justice for Simran.

So, what exactly led to Simran’s untimely death? Her medical records raise troubling questions about the treatment she received at Jagdmba Medical Centre. According to the doctor, Simran visited the hospital at 12:45 pm on January 21, 2023. The prescription is time-stamped at 1:30 pm—just ten minutes before she was declared brought dead at Aryan Hospital at 1:40 pm. How could a 40-minute treatment protocol, including CPR and a slow infusion of Dynapar, have been administered in such a short window?

Adding to the inconsistencies, the driver who transported Simran to Aryan Hospital stated there was no oxygen cylinder or ambu bag in the car, contrary to claims by Jagdamba Medical Centre.

"The hospital claims they followed proper protocol, but the evidence says otherwise. They administered only a Dynapar injection and fabricated an entire treatment schedule in their records. Dr. Rohit Lalit of Jagdmba Medical Centre claimed that Simran was given slow infusion of Dynapar for 40 minutes. He also stated that she was given CPR and that when she was not responsive, she was intubated, given oxygenation, and trasnported in a private car with ambu bag. But photographs from Aryan Hospital show no such interventions. Even the CDR data confirms our timeline—there wasn’t enough time for the treatment protocol they described as we were there in Jagdmba Medical Centre only for a short period and thereafter we had reached Aryan Hospital where Simran was declared brought in dead," Sourabh asserts.

Family's Struggle for Justice

Simran tragic death has set off a series of events that have left her family in turmoil and raises grave concerns about the hospital’s handling of the situation. What started as a visit for a minor illness turned into a nightmare, and now the fight for justice has taken a shocking twist. The hospital's actions, according to the family’s lawyer, Nishant Bharihoke, have led to a disturbing cover-up.

Nishant Bharihoke, the advocate representing Simran’s family, claims that when he tried to intervene in the matter, he was violently assaulted by Jagdmba Medical Centre's staff. "They gave an injection. They made a mistake. The girl died but the matter does not end here. They register a false case against the victim's family member. Then they assault the lawye of the victim. What does this speak about our system?" Bharihoke questions.

The family’s lawyer provided video footage of the alleged assault to The Probe, although its authenticity has not been independently verified. In the video, Bharihoke claims that after the violent attack, hospital authorities coerced him into making a forced confession.

Bharihoke can be heard in the video, saying, "I was about to attack Dr. Rohit, and his people saved him. During this process, I got hurt. I slipped and fell, and that is why I am bleeding."

When The Probe reached out to Dr. Rohit Lalit, the Proprietor of Jagdmba Medical Centre, for a comment, he declined to speak on the record. "The matter is before the High Court," Dr. Lalit said, "and I am not in a position to comment." Despite repeated attempts to get his side of the story, Dr. Lalit maintained that any statements regarding Simran’s death should be directed to the court, as the case is under legal review.

In a brief exchange, Dr. Lalit stated, "Whatever I have to say, I have said in the court. You can ask them only. The High Court has stayed the proceedings, and I have nothing more to add."

To verify Dr. Lalit’s claims about the High Court’s involvement, The Probe checked the official court website. Contrary to Dr. Lalit’s statement, there was no evidence of a stay being issued by the High Court. In fact, the case is scheduled for a hearing in March 2025. 

Did Medical Negligence Alone Kill Simran?

Who is to blame for Simran’s untimely death? The hospital? The police? The medical board? Or is it the system itself that failed her? In cases of such profound loss, why is it that the burden of proof always seems to fall on the victims and their families to show that they are the ones suffering from alleged medical negligence, while hospitals often seem to escape accountability, with the system standing as a silent observer?

The Medical Board constituted in the case has given the hospital a clean chit but a trial court order states that there are inconsistencies in the doctor's statements made before the Medical Board.

For Simran’s family, the battle is far from over. Exhausted by their ongoing legal fight against the alleged medical negligence in the case, they insist they are not just seeking justice for Simran, but for the hope that no other family will have to endure such a tragic fate. “Our fight is for this,” says Sourabh. "Simran has already died, but we don’t want more families to go through this. We will continue our fight till the perpetrators are brought to justice.