MADURAI: Postgraduate students of the Madurai Medical College staged a flash protest late on Saturday night, demanding arrest of a woman who allegedly assaulted a postgraduate (PG) student doctor who was on duty at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH).
The incident happened on Saturday morning when the 31-year-old postgraduate (PG) student doctor was on duty at the Labour Theatre (LT) II in the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) block of GRH. Two women -- G Murugeswari (52) and K Rajarajeshwari (29), both relatives of a woman admitted for childbirth -- allegedly assaulted the doctor after the latter asked one of them to remove her footwear before entering the sterile ward.
In protest of the ‘attack’, nearly 150 doctors and nurses, led by Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) State President Dr K Senthil staged a protest on GRH premises on Saturday afternoon. They boycotted outpatient services for nearly three hours, demanding an FIR against the two suspects under non-bailable provisions of the Tamil Nadu Hospital Protection (TNHP) Act, 2008. The Madurai branch of the Indian Medical Association also condemned the assault.
Later in the day, the GRH police, based on a complaint lodged by the doctor and her husband, booked the two women under Sections 294 (b) (punishment for uttering obscene words), 332 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty), 353 (punishment for assaulting a public servant), 355 (punishment for assaulting with intent to dishonour a person) of the Indian Penal Code, and under the TNHP Act. While Rajarajeshwari was arrested and was remanded, Murugeswari went absconding from a private hospital where she had gone for treatment.
Students’ protest
Demanding that Murugeswari too be arrested and remanded, nearly 150 postgraduate student doctors and house surgeons, who were on night duty, staged a flash protest in front of the CEmONC block around 9.45 pm on Saturday, boycotting services (except emergency care). GRH Dean Dr J Sangumani rushed to the spot and, responding to the students’ demands, gave a written statement on the incident to the police.
Earlier incident
It may be recalled that a case was registered under the TNHP Act in 2010 when inebriated relatives of a patient admitted to the trauma casualty ward of GRH pelted glass panels with stones and restrained a doctor. However, this is the first time a doctor was assaulted at GRH by a patient’s kin, said Dr Senthil.