Komari's mother, Rangamma Naidu, is a resident of the Cantonment area on Airport Road. At around midnight on Friday, when Komari was bitten by a snake, she rushed him to the VIMS hospital.

The staff on duty refused to give her an out-patient slip, and asked her to take the victim to the District Headquarters Hospital for Women and Children, which is 5 km away. When the staff remained adamant, Rangamma ran, carrying her son to the emergency ward.

After a lot of persuasion, the doctor on duty gave the boy an anti-snake venom injection, but blatantly refused to admit the child. Rangamma was directed to the District Headquarters Hospital at that midnight hour.

Rangamma ran outside, holding her son in her arms, in search of an autorickshaw, but there were none. She then ran towards Hospet Road, stopped a jeep and begged thedriver to take them to the hospital. Komari was immediately admitted into the hospital and treated by the doctors. But in a few minutes, he died.

Y Venkateswara Rao, member of Board of Visitors, VIMS, has protested the callous attitude of the staff and demanded stern action against the doctors concerned. If the director takes no action within a week, he would stage a dharna before the VIMS, he has said. Rao said this is not the only case of rude behaviour of the staff.

In another similar case recently, Shivanna Tavargi, city Deputy Superintendent of Police, developed chest pain all of a sudden while on his night rounds. He rushed to the emergency ward of VIMS and woke up the doctor on duty who was sleeping. The doctor, dressed in a vest, examined the DSP and nonchalantly said the ECG could not be taken as it was out of order.

Fortunately for him, Tavargi survived even without the ECG investigation.