Kannur (Kerala) | The parents of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy, who allegedly died after being administered anaesthesia for suturing a lip injury at a private hospital here on Saturday, have urged authorities to expedite the probe into the incident.

The child, Devansh Shouria of Eramam, sustained a lip injury while playing on July 5.

He was taken to a private hospital in Payyannur, where doctors advised suturing the wound under anaesthesia.

According to the family's complaint, the child became unconscious after the anaesthesia was administered and was shifted to another hospital in Kannur, where he later died.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case against anaesthetist Dr Anjali Poduval.

The child's father, Sooraj, told reporters that a district-level medical panel was constituted after the incident to examine allegations of medical negligence.

"There were five members on the panel. Of the five, three concluded that there had been negligence on the part of the doctors. One member found no negligence, while another gave a neutral opinion," he claimed.

He said the family continued to seek answers about how the incident occurred.

"The medical report has now been sent to the state-level panel, which has to take appropriate action," he said.

Last week, Sooraj met Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and requested the formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.

"I once again request the home minister to take steps to expedite the investigation. I will continue this fight until I get justice. My repeated request to the government is to ensure that the matter is investigated expeditiously," he said.

Sooraj said he planned to meet Chief Minister V D Satheesan as well to raise the family's concerns.

The family has been demanding that the two other doctors who treated the child also be made accused in the case.

Police officials at the Payyannur police station said that, since the investigation involves allegations of medical negligence, the expert panel's report is crucial for further proceedings.

Following the incident, the hospital denied allegations of medical negligence, claiming that the child suffered a cardiac arrest after being administered anaesthesia.

It said he was immediately placed on ventilator support before being shifted to another hospital.