On Monday (June 9), a doctor was brutally thrashed by the family members of a 28-year-old patient after he died at the Pandua Rural Hospital in Hooghly district of West Bengal.
As per reports, the patient named Sheikh Ismail was brought to the hospital on Monday morning, after he complained of chest pain. According to his family members, Dr. Shivshankar Roy attended the patient and asked him to undergo an Electro Cardiogram (ECG) test. They alleged that the doctor-in-charge had prescribed the patient a total of four medicines and asked him to take them at the same time. They further claimed that Sheikh Ismail died within 5 minutes of taking the medicines.
THREAD: Dr. Shankar Roy was thrashed at Hoogly’s Pandua Gramin hospital after a 24 year old patient died. pic.twitter.com/sbd2aVTegt
— Sreyashi Dey (@SreyashiDey) June 8, 2021
At that point, the family members along with other locals stormed the hospital premises and unleashed violence. They brutally assaulted Dr. Shivashankar Roy and injured him. The video of the incident, shared by Times Now journalist Sreyashi Dey, has gone viral on social media. Besides, the accused also hurled bricks at the hospital and vandalised property. The local Pandua police were called in to pacify the situation. One police personnel was also injured in the scuffle.
Culprits on the loose, doctors stage protest
Although more than 24 hours have passed since the incident, the accused have not been arrested. Miffed by police inaction, administrative laxity and threats posed to the security of health officials, doctors, and nurses of Pandua Rural Hospital have launched a strike. The OPD unit and surgeries have been temporarily shut down. Meanwhile, the doctors are only attending to patients in the Emergency unit. In a video shared by the journalist, doctors were seen wearing black badges in protest.
The angry locals gheraoed the hospital claiming it was a case of medical negligence. pic.twitter.com/5ibRFsEASY
— Sreyashi Dey (@SreyashiDey) June 8, 2021
The hospital staff has demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators, besides setting up of a police camp at the hospital for safety. Several patients and their family members have accused the protesting doctors of disrupting the medical services and causing inconvenience. Sheikh Ismail worked in the gold industry in Gujarat and had returned home to Pandua during Eid.
Doctors assaulted in Assam, police arrest accused
Earlier on June 2, Assam Police arrested 24 people, including main perpetrators and conspirators, for attacking a doctor at a Covid care centre. A video of the incident went viral on social media platforms that triggered a strong protest. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma quoted the viral video and called it a barbaric attack. He said, “Such barbaric attacks on our frontline workers won’t be tolerated by our administration. Assam Police and DGP GP Singh ensure that the culprits brought to justice.”
According to the reports, Dr. Seuj Kumar Senapati, who was posted at Udali CCC in Hojai district of central Assam, was attacked by the relatives of a patient. The patient was admitted on June 1 at 11 AM and died at 2 PM of Covid related complications. In the viral video, security personnel and other staff members were seen trying to stop them, but no one listened.
The Police identified the main perpetrators as Md. Kamaruddin, Md. Jainal uddin, Rehanuddin, Saidul Alam, Rahim Uddin, Rajul Islam, Tayebur Rahman and Sahil Islam. By 4 AM, Tuesday, the Police had arrested 24 people in the case.