In yet another shocking instance of a doctor being assaulted, two men were caught on video abusing a woman doctor and other staff at the Thiruvananthapuram Fort Taluk hospital on Friday, August 7. Rafeeq, 34, from Vallakadavu and Rashid, 41, from Karimadom were arrested.
In a video, one of them can be seen abusing the doctor as well as assaulting and attempting to pin the doctor to the wall. One of the men can be heard saying, "It is because you are a woman that you are sitting here, or you'd have to be torn off the wall", implying that he would assault and plaster her to the wall. Other hospital staff try to restrain the man, but he hits other staff as well.
The men were reportedly inebriated at the time, and had arrived around midnight as they had minor injuries. Dr. Malu Murali, the doctor on duty, asked them to wait as there were more patients, following which the men started assaulting her. She is currently undergoing treatment.
Protesting against the incident and supported by the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), doctors boycotted outpatient duties at the hospital on Friday, August 6.
This was the second attack against a doctor in the last week. On Tuesday, August 3, a doctor at Parassala Taluk Hospital was attacked by a gang of four people, who were also allegedly drunk. The doctor was attacked after he asked the accused to follow COVID-19 protocols.
In the last few months, there has been an increase in the number of incidents across the state where doctors have been assaulted.
On July 24, Dr Sarathchandra Bose, a doctor at Primary Health Centre near Kainakari in Alappuzha filed a complaint against a few CPI(M) leaders, including Kainakari Panchayat President MC Prasad, for allegedly assaulting him.
On June 25, the KGMOA boycotted outpatient duties after a police official assaulted another doctor, Dr Rahul Mathew, who was working the night shift at the Mavelikkara district hospital, after the police official’s mother, a COVID-19 patient, was brought dead to the hospital. The incident happened on May 14.