Unable to bear pain, cancer patient hangs self at hospital

KOLKATA: A 65-year-old cancer patient, Chandra Narayan Chakraborty, committed suicide at Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute on Wednesday morning. His family said he was kept without radiation for the past two days and was hence in extreme pain. They have filed a complaint of negligence with the hospital authorities. Chakraborty, from Kanchrapara in North 24-Parganas, was admitted to the hospital on March 31 with cancer of the oesophagus.On Wednesday, Chakraborty went to the toilet of his ward and hanged himself with a gamchha. Son Tapan Chakraborty said his father had cried in pain the whole night but no medical attention was provided to him. "The doctors told us that since a radiotherapy machine was out of order, he could not be given radiation. We had admitted him to this hospital so that he received proper treatment. Now, we regret the decision," he said. Hospital superintendent Jahar Mazumdar admitted that the radiotherapy machine was out of order. "The linear accelerator machine has been out of order for some time. We are facing delays in administering radiation to new patients," he said. "Police are investigating the matter and we are conducting our own probe to find out what had happened," Mazumdar added.