The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up two private hospitals and their doctors for allegedly failing to provide timely medical treatment to a four-year-old rape victim who died in Ghaziabad in March.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the hospitals to grant a reasonable compensation to the family.

“You have no business of writing 'doctor' if you do not perform your duty. If you had sensitivity, you would have gone with the child to another hospital if you did not have a facility…You ignored because she was poor? Couldn't afford your fee?” the CJI said, posting the matter for hearing next week.

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by the victim’s father, a daily-wage labourer, seeking a court-monitored probe either by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or the CBI in the case.

The victim was allegedly lured away by a neighbour on the pretext of buying her chocolates on March 16. When she did not return, her father launched a search and found her lying unconscious and soaked in blood.

The two private hospitals - Khajan Singh Mannvi Health Care and St Joseph (Mariam) Hospital - allegedly denied her admission, following which she was taken to a government hospital in Ghaziabad, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

The top court had, in April, flagged the “reluctance” of the Ghaziabad Police in lodging an FIR and conducting a probe in the case.

On April 24, the top court had ordered a probe into the case by an all-woman Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by an officer in the rank of Commissioner of Police or Inspector General of Police.