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Shocking violation of Human Rights committed against elderly Sikh stroke victim


Premi5
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5 hours ago, dallysingh101 said:

Surely in an area like Uxbridge, with the big Sikh population in surrounding areas, people would know about the significance of kesh to Sikhs. This seems 'naughty'?

I agree. This must be fully investigated. 

Can't trust anyone. I know of an elderly family friend who has carers and is convinced they stole money from her purse. 

The news article if 'naughty' is a lot worse though. 

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https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/hospital-removes-71-year-old-21787688

Hospital removes 71-year old Sikh stroke victim's facial hair illegally in 'gross violation of human rights'

The family claims the hospital tried to cover up their mistake by covering his face with a mask on video calls

 
  • 10:59, 7 OCT 2021

 

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The family of Mr Singh wanted his eyes to be pixelated for safety reasons

A West London hospital breached a 71-year-old Sikh stroke victim’s religious beliefs by removing his beard without family consent.

Mr Singh, whose family don’t want him to be named for safety reasons, was left unable to speak after suffering a stroke.

The man from Ealing was submitted to Hillingdon Hospital where they cut his beard without obtaining his permission or seeking the consent of his family.

In the Sikh religion, a beard signifies their commitment to the religion. The Rehat Maryada explicitly forbids cutting or shaving any body hair for initiated Sikhs.

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The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust called it an 'honest mistake'

The family claim this would have been well known to staff at Hillingdon Hospital given the local demographics and high proportion of Sikhs living and working at the hospital.

 

They believe the staff subsequently tried to hide their actions from them by covering his chin with a face mask during video calls.

His daughter last week during a video call noticed her father was unusually wearing a normal mask and was told this was because of Covid. In a follow up video call the next day nurses would only show the eyes of the 71-year old.

A complaint was made the following day to the ward manager and a video call showing his full face was permitted.

His family members were shocked to see that their father’s moustache and beard had been trimmed by staff and they offered no clinical reasoning for cutting his facial hair.

His daughter Manpreet told MyLondon: “I broke down and started crying because I’ve never seen him like that, he always had a beard when I grew up.

“The way they covered up their mistake made it even worse. All we wanted as a family was a written apology but they refused. The staff were really rude and now they have stopped us from having any video calls with him.

“We are unhappy with the NHS and we want to take it further. I would encourage anyone else that this has happened to, to do the same. This is not right.”

Mr Singh’s daughter has now reached out to the Sikh Federation (UK), who has written to Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

The Sikh Federation (UK) has also written to Patricia Wright, the Chief Executive of Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, demanding answers, and called for a full investigation on how the incident took place.

The family has been advised it may sue Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust for failing to observe the law that protects patients from such abuse.

Bhai Amrik Singh, the Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK) said: “It is impossible to describe in words the impact on a Sikh of his hair being removed without consent and with no clinical reasoning.

“This is a gross violation of the patients’ human rights and his right to practice his faith for which heads must roll.

“They knew what they had done to compromise Mr Singh’s faith was a major mistake and unforgivable.”

He added: “We can only imagine the trauma of this outrageous act on the mental well-being of the 71-year old stroke victim who has already been suffering for over 6 weeks.

“His family are deeply upset by the actions of staff at Hillingdon Hospital who firstly completely disrespected their father’s faith, followed by an attempted cover up that makes the situation even worse.

A spokesperson for the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We would like to apologise to the family for any distress we may have caused.

"This was an honest mistake made during our care for this patient and we have carried out an investigation into the incident, to learn from it and help ensure it does not happen again.

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Sikhs show their devotion to God by not cutting or trimming their hair, meaning any attempt to do so is deeply offensive.

Mr Singh, who's family do not want his full name used as he is still in hospital, said staff were rude and "had an attitude problem" when they tried to arrange Zoom calls.

 

@dallysingh101 - maybe this was 'naughty'  but also possible, the care worker/nursing staff thought 'let's make it easier by not having to maintain his beard during washes/dressing' - not that this is a justification, especially given how a good percentage of the hospital's patients must be Sardars.

Wonder how close the family was or tried to help prevent this happen, maybe they could have done more ?

Hillingdon Hospital 'needlessly' shaved Sikh's beard

By Joseph Reaidi & Chris Dyer
He was transferred from Northwick Park to Hillingdon Hospital

He was transferred from Northwick Park to Hillingdon Hospital

 

https://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/19645342.hillingdon-hospital-needlessly-shaved-sikhs-beard/

A hospital has apologised after nurses “needlessly” cut the beard of a Sikh pensioner who was being treated for a stroke and tried to hide what happened from his family.

The furious relatives of the 71-year-old man said because his facial hair was trimmed without permission or for any medical reason it amounted to a human rights violation.

Mr Singh was take to Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow,  in August after his latest stroke and was then shortly moved to Hillingdon Hospital – run by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Trust.

 
 

Hillingdon Hospital was not allowing face-to-face visits with patients, leaving family members having to contact loved ones via video as recently as last month.

Manpreet Aujla said her father was very sensitive about his hair and beard and would not have consented to the trim had he been able to talk.

The dad-of-two from Southall, west London, has been unable to communicate and can only partially move his right arm since suffering five strokes and a bleed on the brain.

A complaint was made the following day to the ward manager and a video call showing his full face was allowed, the family claimed.

The hospital denies staff attempted to conceal the beard trim and said that wearing of face coverings in the hospital was standard practice.

Ms Aujla, 27, said: "They [staff] would only show his eyes in the video and he had a mask on pulled up to his eyes.

"I got a glimpse of his face and said 'what's happened to my dad's beard?' A ward manager said he was unaware it had been cut. I just started crying, I had never seen my dad like that. The whole family was so distressed.

"And I know it would really upset him because even if people mentioned trimming his beard he wouldn't talk to them for ages. He didn't like anyone even touching his beard. There's no way he would have consented to that.

"When I asked why he had a face mask on, the staff said 'because of Covid', but no other patients had them on.

"When I asked them if there was a clinical need, there was no reason given. This would only have needed to be done if there was surgery being carried out. The manager just said 'it will grown back', which shows how little they understand about Sikhs."

Ms Aujla added: "I think he was being discriminated against because he is not as active as he was last time he was in the hospital. I don't think they were paying attention to him and were just leaving him and not doing much rehab."

The Sikh Federation has also backed Mr Singh's family and staff at Hillingdon Hospital will have known not to cut his hair as many observers of the religion live and work in the area.

The federation has written to health minister Sajid Javid and shadow minister, Jon Ashworth, calling for a full investigation into how the incident took place and what disciplinary action will be taken.

Bhai Amrik Singh, chair of the Sikh Federation UK said: “It is impossible to describe in words the impact on a Sikh of his hair being removed without consent and with no clinical reasoning. This is a gross violation of the patients’ human rights and his right to practice his faith for which heads must roll.

“We can only imagine the trauma of this outrageous act on the mental well-being of the 71-year old stroke victim who has already been suffering for over six weeks.

“His family are deeply upset by the actions of staff at Hillingdon Hospital who firstly completely disrespected their father’s faith followed by an attempted cover up that makes the situation even worse."

Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust claimed it takes "equality and spiritual wellbeing extremely seriously" and has policies to safeguard religious beliefs and cultural practices.

A spokesman for the trust said: "We would like to apologise to the family for any distress we may have caused - this was an honest mistake made during our care for this patient and we have carried out an investigation into the incident, to learn from it and help ensure it does not happen again.

"We are in ongoing contact with the family and our chief executive, Patricia Wright, has also reached out to the Sikh Federation to discuss any broader concerns they may have.”

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7 hours ago, Premi5 said:

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/second-nihang-member-arrested-in-gruesome-killing-at-farmers-protest-near-delhi-2577586

2 More 'Nihangs' Surrender Over Gruesome Killing At Farmers' Protest

Saravjit Singh surrendered to police and claimed responsibility for killing of 35-year-old Dalit Lakhbir Singh. Two more Nihangs surrendered later

All IndiaReported by Mohammad Ghazali, Edited by Chandrashekar SrinivasanUpdated: October 16, 2021 11:12 pm IST

 

Two more Nihangs -- Bhagwant Singh (L) and Govind Singh (R) -- surrendered to police.

 
 
 
38

Chandigarh: 

Two more Nihangs - 'warrior' Sikhs - have surrendered to the police in connection with the gruesome murder of a Dalit labourer at a farmers' protest site in Singhu on Friday. One surrendered this morning and another was arrested, taking the total number of accused in the case to four.

The two who surrendered last evening have been identified as Bhagwant Singh and Govind Singh. Visuals showed the two men - with garlands around their necks - walking as supporters cheered them.

On Friday evening Saravjit Singh - a Nihang - surrendered to Haryana Police and claimed responsibility for the sickening killing of 35-year-old Dalit labourer Lakhbir Singh, who was found tied to a police barricade at Singhu with his left hand and right leg cut off.

Singh was produced at a local court on Saturday and sent to seven days' police custody; authorities asked for 14 days', saying he had info on other suspects and that they had to recover the murder weapons.

In a video that emerged on Saturday the Nihang member has claimed "no regrets" over the killing.

The video - from before his surrender - shows him tightly flanked by other Nihangs - at least two of whom still carried swords - as a reporter asks: "Do you feel repentance?"

To this Singh looks disinterested, waves the question away and shakes his head, and replies "No".

The body of Lakhbir Singh, 35 years old and from Punjab's Tarn Taran district, was discovered early yesterday morning. It was found tied to a police barricade with the left hand and right foot cut off.

As news of the brutal and sickening murder spread, at least three videos were circulated, showing a large group of Nihangs, standing around his body as lay bleeding and in pain.

 

41 minutes ago, jkvlondon said:

why are they all surrendering ?

1. who will be left protecting sangat and Gurudwarey?

2. One nihang has already come forward for the crime it is not like UK where no one can decide who killed the man so all go free of murder because of reasonable doubt this is India and BS justice

3. It emboldened more attacks

4. the younger nihangs will be decimated by this thought process and their knowledge will go with them instead of being used to train next generation

I posted in the wrong thread, sorry !

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