The man who stabbed a 22-year-old house surgeon to death at the Taluk Hospital in Kottarakkara in Kollam district of Kerala in the wee hours of Wednesday, May 10, is a teacher at the Nedumpana Upper Primary (UP) School, according to the police. The 42-year-old man, identified as Sandeep, was brought to the hospital by the local police, whom he had called for help after suffering injuries during an alleged scuffle with some relatives and neighbours. At the hospital, he went on a violent stabbing spree, killing a doctor, injuring three police officials and many hospital staff. A case has been registered against Sandeep under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, but with the doctor’s death, he will now be charged with murder.
Speaking to media persons, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, MR Ajith Kumar said the police took Sandeep to the hospital as an injured complainant, and not as an accused. According to the official, Sandeep had called the police emergency number 112 around 1 am in the night alleging that he was attacked by some people.
“Though the police personnel at the local station tried to call him back, his phone was switched off. He later called the police again from another number around 3.30 am. The team then tracked his location and found him standing about half a kilometre away from his house, holding on to a stick. Some injuries were visible on his body. He kept claiming that people were trying to kill him,” he said, adding that this was when the police took him to the taluk hospital along with a relative and an area resident.
“At the time of the incident, Sandeep was a complainant. He was brought to the hospital because he had sustained injuries on his body. It was while he was under treatment that he attacked the doctor and others at the hospital,” the ADGP said.
According to a nurse who dressed his wound, Sandeep was not physically violent while the treatment was on, however he was talking in an agitated manner. Which is why when the nurse was dressing his wounds, police officers left the room and did not feel the need to handcuff him, another officer told the media. He added that Sandeep suddenly turned violent after his relative approached him. “He first kicked the relative, before snatching a pair of scissors from the dressing room and assaulting others in the area,” he said.
Sandeep has now been moved to Paripally medical college to ascertain whether he was under the influence of intoxicating substances when the incident happened.
Sandeep’s neighbour in Kollam’s Pooyappally told Manorama News that Sandeep had jumped over the wall and entered the premises of his house around 2.30 am in the morning, loudly repeating that somebody was coming to kill him. “We didn’t know who this was at the time. So we locked our doors and called our neighbours for help. It was after they arrived that we realised this was Sandeep. He was claiming that people were coming to kill him,” he said.
The neighbour added that he felt Sandeep was not in the right state of mind at the time. “He knew all of us well, but he kept mixing up our names. He was calling me Dineshan, which is not my name,” he said.
A Manorama report quoting Susan George, headmistress of Nedumpana UPS, said that Sandeep was transferred to the school in December 2021 and that he was present at school till March 31, this year. Contrary to reports that he was suspended from school due to drug addiction, a colleague told Mathrubhumi News that he has never created any problems that indicated intoxication while in school. “I don’t know about other occasions, but there has been no such issue at school,” she said.
The colleague further said that Sandeep was cooperative as a teacher, at least during the short period of time in which she has known him. “Personally, he has never interacted with us in a harmful manner. He came to school, taught and went, just like the other teachers. He was maybe affected by the fact that his mother was recently hospitalised,” she said.
Pathanapuram MLA KB Ganesh Kumar said that Sandeep was undergoing de-addiction therapy. “It's very sad that despite such incidents happening frequently, no action is taken after a probe. Stringent action should be taken in such cases,” said the actor-turned-politician. Around two months ago, Ganesh had garnered criticism for claiming that “some doctors need to be beaten up,” while listing out cases of alleged medical negligence in the Kerala Assembly.
The deceased Dr Vandana Das, who hailed from Kottayam, was a student at the Kollam Azeezia Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, and was appointed in the taluk hospital for her house surgeoncy training. Though she was immediately taken to the KIMS Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram for advanced treatment, she succumbed to her injuries within a few hours.