The household of a Sikh man being handled in Brampton Civic Hospital say employees shaved his beard with out their permission, violating his spiritual beliefs as he lay unconscious.
Joginder Singh Kaler maintains Sikh articles of religion so his household says they advised hospital employees to not shave his beard. However once they went to go to the 85-year-old, who’s being handled for a critical fall, they have been shocked by what they noticed.
“He was clean-shaven. That was quite the sight …we were so hurt,” Jasjit Dhaliwal, Kaler’s son-in-law, tells CityNews including they’ve but to obtain an apology.
The World Sikh Group of Canada (WSO) says working towards Sikhs don’t minimize or take away their hair or their beards and for somebody to take action with out consent is a violation.
“It’s an attack on someone’s dignity and to appear this way, it’s actually very troublesome,” Balpreet Singh Boparai, authorized counsel for the WSO tells CityNews. “The family has courageously agreed to take this story forward and to allow pictures of their father to be published.”
Dhaliwal says the household hopes that by publicizing the story the identical factor received’t occur to another person.
“Even the fact that the family still doesn’t know how or why this happened and it’s now been two weeks, that just shows that the hospital doesn’t understand the significance of these articles of faith and they don’t know how deeply hurtful their actions are,” mentioned Boparai.
William Osler Well being System, which operates the hospital, says it’s investigating the scenario.
“Osler strives to deliver safe and compassionate care for every patient we serve, and we are sorry and deeply concerned when we do not meet the standard our patients and their families expect and deserve,” the hospital mentioned in a press release to CityNews. “Osler respects the religious rights and freedoms of all Canadians, and supports a positive, inclusive, and safe environment while caring for our community and each other with kindness, empathy and understanding.”
The WSO says they need higher schooling for hospital employees, notably as a result of Brampton has the best Sikh inhabitants in Canada, including they’ve supplied to supply help or coaching however the supply has by no means been accepted.
