A 23-year-old pregnant woman died of excessive bleeding after a quack delivered her baby, watching YouTube videos in a sham surgery in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, officials said on Saturday (January 10, 2025).
The woman’s relatives said she delivered the baby, but could not survive. The death happened on Thursday (January 8) night, but it came to light on Saturday (January 10, 2026) with the Bhagalpur Civil Surgeon forming a team to catch hold of the quack.
After she developed labour pain, the family members took Swati Devi to a private clinic in Ekchari village, Kahalgaon block in the district, where one Ranjit Mandal suggested she undergo a caesarean section to deliver the baby. The family added that before starting the surgery, the quack pocketed ₹30,000 as fees.
A local villager, Rajesh Kumar, said, “When Swati was in the operation theatre, the quack and his assistant were watching YouTube videos on their mobile phones. They were trying to understand the operation technique by repeatedly playing the videos. Suddenly, she started bleeding excessively, and her condition worsened.”
“After the quack failed to control the heavy bleeding, he said that her condition was critical and asked us to take her to a better hospital. By the time he fled from the clinic, she had died. However, the baby survived,” he added.
