Guwahati: A magisterial probe report to dig out the reasons behind the death of a 14-year-old budding singer Tejaswita Baruah at a hospital in Assam’s river island district of Majuli has once again stroked the strings of debate.

A resident of Doria village of Majuli Kamalabar and a class IX student, she had mesmerized many with her songs, and dance videos on social media.

As per the government inquiry report, while she died of cardiac arrest caused by multiple reasons including previous negligence in taking medication, her family members rejected it. They continued to claim that she had died due to the lack of ‘oxygen support’ on October 6.

Following her death and a massive public outcry over medical negligence, the Assam government ordered a magisterial-level probe to look into the matter.

“The probe report clearly shows that despite having epilepsy she was not taking her medicines properly for quite some time leading to the deterioration of her health. There was no negligence of doctors,” said chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday.

After the teenager died, a massive public outcry forced the state government to suspend the Superintendent of Majuli’s Garmur Civil Hospital in Garmur, Dr Amulya Goswami.

Subsequently, Majuli district administration ordered a magisterial probe to be conducted by additional deputy commissioner Dr Sanjiv Phukan and circle officer Jaydeep Rajak and directed the officials to find out the causes and circumstances leading to the death of the budding singer in the hospital.

However, for family members of the deceased, the probe report was baseless. “How can the chief minister say that there was negligence by the family members in looking after her? How can any parent be irresponsible when it comes to the only daughter? She was taking her medicines regularly,” her father Babul Baruah cried.

He added, “If there would be CCTV cameras then it would have been clear how she suffered before her death.”

On the other hand, CM Sarma criticized local media for overreacting to the incident. “People and local media in Majuli need to understand that doctors are not gods. Many patients die while in the hospital but it can’t be leveled as the doctors’ fault. These doctors had risked their lives to overcome Covid19 outbreak in the state and we need to understand them and let them do their duties properly. However, if we find any negligence by doctors, strict action will be taken upon them too,” Sarma added.

Tejaswita’s death also triggered political debate in the state with Opposition parties blaming the state government for failing to provide a basic ‘oxygen supply’ in the Majuli hospital and demanded an overhaul change in the state’s health department and hospitals.