Mob beats man in Kolkata hospital complex, doctors raise safety concern

2 minutes of reading Last update: October 13, 2024 | 4:42 p.m. STI

A group of people assaulted a youth, injuring him after entering the trauma care department of the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on Sunday, officials said.

The incident occurred when a group of junior doctors were quickly watching to death nearby to press for their 10-point letter of demands, including justice for the RG Kar hospital victim and stronger security measures at state-run medical facilities.

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An official at SSKM Hospital said the young man, who accompanied his friends to the trauma center, was beaten by around 15 men, leaving him injured.

The attackers likely parked their vehicles outside the main referral hospital.

A Kolkata police officer said there were reports that the youth was part of a gang that clashed with a rival faction in a nearby area earlier in the day.

While members of one group entered the hospital for treatment, the other arrived at the scene and severely beat him, he said.

“We are checking CCTV footage from the area to identify the attackers. Police have placed guardrails before the gate of the trauma center,” the officer said.

The Hospital official said that a relative of another patient was also beaten by the gang members who used hockey sticks, sticks and steel chains during the attack.

The incident comes close on the heels of the attack on doctors and nurses at Sagore Dutta Medical College and Hospital near Kolkata by relatives of a patient who died, triggering a new wave of unrest by doctors demanding safety.

Utsa Hazra, a junior doctor at another hospital, told reporters that the SSKM incident has put a question mark on the safety of hospitals.

“If outsiders can enter a tertiary hospital like SSKM and beat up patients without police intervention, it just shows how hollow the management’s demand for hospital security is,” she said at the site of the junior doctors’ hunger strike .

The October 5th hunger strike followed almost 50 days of work cessation in two phases. Their agitation began after an on-duty postgraduate intern was allegedly raped and murdered inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

While one person was arrested by the Kolkata Police the next day, the CBI is now investigating the case on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.

(Only the title and image of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a distributed feed.)

First published: October 13, 2024 | 4:42 p.m. STI