Two people in India died after a dentist performed hair transplant surgeries on them, allegedly without any prior training or qualifications.
Vinit Kumar Dubey, 37, and Mayank Katiyar, 32, both died within 48 hours of having surgery carried out by Dr Anushka Tiwari in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Tiwari ‘surrendered’ at a local court on Monday and was arrested on suspicion of culpable homicide, after evading raids in several states for weeks, local media reports.
Dubey, an engineer and father-of-two, had attended Tiwari’s private clinic, named Empire, on March 13, before dying two days later in hospital with a brain infection.
His wife, Jaya Tripathi, filed a complaint soon after, noting that her husband had a badly swollen face and was in pain before his death.
‘His face was so swollen, it looked like a balloon. His eyes were bulging out. I couldn’t even recognise him,’ she said.
‘He had just completed his PhD and received a job offer from a top US firm. He wanted to surprise me with his new look.’
But she says police initially failed to act on the complaint for nearly two months.
It was uncovered this month that a second victim, Katiyar, had died in similar circumstances in November, again dying a day after his procedure with Tiwari.
His mother said her son died in her lap a day after surgery.
Authorities had tried to capture Tiwari for weeks, carrying out raids in multiple states in an effort to find her.
Her mobile location was traced to Rohtak and Panipat, but she remained untraceable until she surrendered herself to the court this week.
She said at first that she had not performed the surgeries herself, and blamed another doctor, per India Today.
But a case of culpable homicide has now been registered for both of the deaths, based on complaints from the families.
‘There are serious allegations against Anushka Tiwari, a dentist, who performed a surgery outside her professional domain,’ said state lawyer Dilip Singh.
‘She surrendered in court today and has been sent to jail.’
In her complaint, Tripathi alleged that she had tried in vain to reach the dentist as her husband’s condition deteriorated on March 14.
‘We called again Dr Anushka Tiwari the same night around 11 and she admitted that she performed the surgery without a test,’ she told NDTV.
An initial investigation into Dubey’s case by the health authorities revealed significant medical negligence, a committee found.
They revealed that the procedure was carried out in spite of the patient being diabetic and hypertensive.
Doctors later said that he had developed a bacterial brain infection, which led to encephalopathy and death.
Mayank, also an engineer, died on November 19 after his surgery a day prior. His family had approached police with similar concerns.
He came home at 5pm but was crying in pain by midnight. His face swelled and darkened,’ his mother, Pramodini Katiyar, told News18.
‘By morning, he couldn’t see and was struggling to breathe. He died in my lap the next day.’
She said Tiwari blocked her number and became unreachable after her son died.
‘I want her arrested—otherwise, she’ll take away someone else’s son tomorrow,’ she said.
The family lodged a complaint on May 13.
Tiwari appears on YouTube speaking on hair care as a ‘dermatologist’.
Her clinic is registered in the name of her husband, Dr Saurabh.
Investigators are now looking at the qualifications of other staff members.
The next hearing is scheduled for June 6.
