The nightly search for medical help ended for a Bengaluru family after the 34-year-old garage mechanic died following alleged apathy from hospitals, emergency services and bystanders.
Venkataramanan, a resident of Balaji Nagar, got a severe pain in his chest around 3.30 am. His wife drove him to emergency treatment on a motorbike, but the journey soon turned into a nightmare.
According to his wife, the couple was successively rejected from two hospitals. First she was told that no doctor was on duty. At the second, they were said to have been advised to take him elsewhere after being told he had suffered a stroke. According to her, the emergency services did not respond in time.
“Humanity failed to help my husband. I was covered in blood, I begged for help but no one came,” she told NDTV as she recounted the ordeal that followed.
While traveling between hospitals, the couple met with an accident. CCTV footage later showed Venkataramanan lying injured on the road while his wife folded her arms and pleaded with passing vehicles to stop. None did for several minutes.
The wait ended when the taxi driver finally pulled up and took him to a nearby hospital. Doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
Despite the devastating loss, the family decided to donate Venkataramanan’s eyes, allowing his death to restore sight to others. “Humanity failed, but we contributed by donating his eyes,” his wife told NDTV.
The tragedy tore the family apart. Venkataramanan’s mother, who had already lost her other children, was at a loss for words. “I have no words. I don’t know what to say. My son is gone,” she said.
His mother-in-law questioned the system’s response to medical emergencies. “The government should understand the health emergency. My daughter has two children. Who will take care of them?” she asked.
Venkataramanan is survived by his wife, mother and two young children – a five-year-old son and an 18-month-old daughter. The incident has raised new questions in India’s tech capital about access to emergency healthcare, ambulance response and public accountability.
Several users on X said that humanity is dead. One user wrote: “This is not just a failure of medicine or systems, but a profound collapse of human conscience.”
Another user on X wrote: “Shame on us. What are we proud of when we don’t even value the life of a fellow citizen.”
“This is our India no one will help you they will just watch the scene if you have money or power you can save lives otherwise you should be in politics,” wrote a third on X.
