Doctors protest outside Thane Civil Hospital after mob assaults 3 more doctors, vandalises equipment
The mob attacked 3 doctors at Thane Civil Hospital (inset: doctors protesting against attack on Thursday)
Barely four days after withdrawing their state-wide strike, doctors were seen protesting outside Thane Civil Hospital premises on Thursday afternoon in the wake of the fresh attack on three of their colleagues yesterday.
Following the incident, doctors affiliated with the hospital had urged authorities to increase security and take strict action against the culprits, failing which they would go on strike.
While the doctors have not gone on strike as of Thursday afternoon, they came together to protest against the recent attack in a bid to expedite the fulfillment of their demands.
The incident:
Around 3 pm on Wednesday, three doctors were attacked and a few interns abused verbally by a mob of 20 persons for allegedly delaying a patient’s treatment. The mob even broke the glass of the main entrance.
According to officials, the patient – Mushtkil Memon (35) – arrived at the hospital with deep cuts on his hand.
However, instead of completing the necessary paperwork and informing doctors about the cause of injury, the patient’s relatives directly rushed him to the emergency room and asked the on-duty doctors to treat him on priority.
Later, when the doctors started his treatment, his relatives got into an argument over injecting IV fluid.
“The patient was admitted without doing any paperwork. Dr Khan and his colleague were treating him and decided to administer the IV fluid. Memon insisted the IV be injected through his arm and not his forearm,” said Abhishek Trimukhe, DCP (Zone 1).
“They then assaulted three doctors working in the casualty ward, while the interns, all women, who were standing nearby were abused and threatened,” he added.
During the scuffle, Dr Javed Khan (26) suffered severe injuries while two of his colleagues, Dr Salman Khan (23) and Dr Sabih Husain Fakki (21) suffered bruises.
By the time help was on its way, the group exited the hospital, vandalising the premises and any other medical equipment in their path.
Although four police constables, including an armed guard, were stationed at the hospital when the incident took place, they were unable to prevent the attack.
Memon, who was later admitted in a private hospital, is likely to get arrested after getting discharged. Meanwhile, police have registered an FIR against 20 people responsible for the attack.
The accused, who have been identified with the help of CCTV footage, have been booked under sections 143, 147, 149, 323, 332, 353, 504 and 506 of the IPC along with sections of the Maharashtra Medical Practitioners’ Act.
So far two of the accused have been detained and more arrests are likely.
Attack comes days after state promised security
Over 4,000 doctors from the state had done on strike last week to protest against the recent incidents of attacks by patient’s relatives. The agitators said patients were usually accompanied by a large number of relatives, which put pressure on them.
They had demanded adequate security measures and a pass system, where not more than two relatives would be allowed to remain with a patient inside the ward.
After six days of wide protests, Maharashtra resident doctors earlier on Saturday called off their strike and re-joined their duties with immediate effect in the wee hours on Saturday.
The announcement was made after meeting Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan, who accepted all the demands put forward by the doctors, assuring the same in writing.
