When Khamenei helped build a hospital in India after death of pregnant woman

Decades before he became Iran's most powerful figure, Ali Khamenei travelled through India as a young cleric. In 1980s, at the age of 41, he visited Karnataka and Kashmir in the early years after Iran's Islamic Revolution.

The death of a pregnant woman in a remote Karnataka village became the reason a hospital was eventually built there. It has an Ali Khamenei connection.

During a visit to India in early 1980s, Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was deeply moved by a tragedy in Alipura village in Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka. When he learnt that a pregnant woman had died on the way to Bengaluru because there was no hospital nearby, the incident affected him deeply. He decided to help fund a hospital in the area so villagers would not have to travel long distances for basic medical care again.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2026, Abdul Majid Hakeem Ilahi, who represents Iran’s Supreme Leader, recounted how the incident unfolded during Ali Khamenei’s visit to India. Ilahi said the Iranian leader had a deep admiration for India and often spoke about the country’s diversity and civilisation.

"When he came here and visited Alipur, an incident occurred. A woman had passed away, and people asked him to come and pray for her. He asked the people there why she had died. They told him she was pregnant and there was no hospital in the area. Because of that, they had tried to take her to Bangalore, but she died on the way."

"He became very angry when he heard this. He said he would pay for building a hospital, and he did. That hospital was later built there."

According to Iranian documentary archival records, Ali Khamenei travelled to India as part of diplomatic outreach launched by the government of Ruhollah Khomeini after the Islamic Revolution. The visit came just months before he rose to Iran’s presidency in October that year.