A 21-year-old Kannada actress died yesterday after a fat removal surgery at a private hospital in Bengaluru. Chethana Raj, a popular TV actress, developed complications after the surgery, her family alleges.

A case has been filed against doctors at Dr Shetty’s Cosmetic Clinic in Rajajinagar on a police complaint by her parents.

Chethana Raj was admitted to the hospital on May 16 for the surgery. She did not tell her parents about the surgery, the police say.

After the surgery, her lungs reportedly filled up with fluid. She died of a cardiac arrest on Monday.

Her parents have alleged negligence by doctors and have lodged a complaint with the police. They allege that the hospital failed to take their consent for the surgery and the procedure was done in an ICU that lacked proper facilities.

“Without any precautions, they conducted this surgery. The doctors should have suggested a surgery only if there was a real need for removal of fat. It was her friend who signed the consent form before she was taken into surgery,” said the actor’s father Varadaraju.

According to reports, doctors tried to revive her through CPR for 45 minutes but couldn’t. On realising that she was unresponsive, the doctors reportedly took her to the nearby Kaade Hospital.
The Kaade hospital has alleged that they were forced to violate protocol for a patient who was bought unresponsive.

Chethana Raj was a known face in Kannada daily soaps.