Savita Halappanavar husband was sent hate mail

THE husband of an Indian dentist who died following a miscarriage has received hate mail from anti-abortion groups.

Dentist Savita Halappanavar, who died after suffering a miscarriage. Picture: PA/Irish Times

Praveen Halappanavar revealed he has been ordered to leave Ireland and to “clean the mess” caused by the death of his wife Savita, who died after she was refused an abortion in Galway last year.

The widower, who has issued legal proceedings against the Health Service Executive for alleged negligence in his wife’s death, said someone still needs to answer for it.

“I’ve been receiving abuse letters from different campaigners,” Mr Halappanavar said.

“One particular campaigner keeps writing again and again. I was told to leave the country. I was told to clean the mess in our country rather than cleaning the mess here.”

Mr Halappanavar described a report following a clinical inquiry into the 31-year-old’s death published last month as a “whitewash”.

“Still someone has to answer for why she died,” he told RTE radio.

“I haven’t got an answer yet.”

Mr Halappanavar said the report gave no clear explanation of why his wife died of septic shock last October.

An inquest in April recorded a verdict of death due to medical misadventure

The verdict found there were systemic failures or deficiencies in Mrs Halappanavar’s care before she died, but coroner Ciaran MacLoughlin said these failures did not contribute to her death.

Mr Halappanavar, who will meet Health Minister James Reilly later this month to discuss the tragedy and its fallout, said he still has sleepless nights as he tries to come to terms with losing his wife.

“I hardly sleep,” he said.

“I wake up and dream about it. It’s been a difficult journey so far.”