A woman was forced to give birth to her child on the porch of a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Veldurthi, Medak district, during the intervening night of March 11 and 12, as the PHC premises were locked and the staff was absent.

The family of the woman, Srijana, said that when they arrived at the PHC following her labour, the door was locked. Despite repeated calls for help, no assistance arrived.

“Upon hearing our calls for help, some people from a nearby house informed us that the PHC staff had been absent for the past eight days. They provided us with the address of Narsamma, an ASHA worker,” said the mother-in-law of the woman in the video statement.