Doctor of govt hospital beaten up after pregnant woman's death
Agartala: A doctor of a government hospital here was beaten up by family members of a patient after she died in the hospital's labour room in the early hours of Friday, police said.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said stern action will be taken against those who attacked the doctor.
The 25-year-old pregnant woman was admitted to the state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital around 1.20 am and she died of cardiac arrest around 2 am on Friday.
Alleging medical negligence, the patient's family then attacked and seriously injured the doctor, police said.
The gynaecologist was admitted to the trauma care centre of the G B Hospital where his condition was stated to be improving.
Addressing a press conference at his residence, Deb, who is also the home minister of the state, said, Dr Dipankar Debnath was attacked by a group of people after one patient died in a hospital's labour room on late Thursday night.
Security has been enhanced in two government hospitals following the attack on the doctor, the chief minister said.
"They severely beat up the doctor, dragged him out of the hospital and even tried to kill him," Deb said.
"This attack was inhuman and barbaric, and we cannot keep mum if anybody tries to take the law in his hand. The police has been asked to take stern action," he said.
Five persons were arrested in this connection.
They were granted interim bail by a court but they are still in jail because they could not produce bail bonds.
"The police will investigate the case seriously and take steps to punish them," Deb said.
Police pickets were set up in two major hospitals of the city, G B Pant Hospital and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, the chief minister said.
The chief minister also appealed to the doctors not to close their chambers or out patient departments (OPD) at the hospitals.
In a joint statement, the All Tripura Government Doctors Association and the Indian Medical Association's Tripura Chapter announced that doctors would close their chambers and refrain from voluntary services such
as blood donation and health camps. They also and threatened to resign en masse unless their demands were met within a week.
Their demands included arrest of culprits in attacks on doctors in the past one year, setting up of police pickets and installation of CCTV cameras in government hospitals.
"When the government assures to punish the guilty and enhance security for them, they should normalise the situation," the chief minister said.
Deb said, another doctor posted at Sabroom Government Hospital was attacked by relatives of a patient on April 1 and all the accused were arrested.
Meanwhile, Tripura Health Minister Sudip Roy Burman said he would surrender his police escorts in protest against the incidents of violence against doctors.
It is "improper and unethical" for him to move around with escorts while doctors are being attacked, he said.
"I am compelled to surrender police escorts as long as security in the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and other district hospitals is not provided," Burman said in a letter to the chief minister.
"The government doctors and other staff have been feeling insecured working at various government hospitals," he wrote in the letter.
These attacks are sending negative signals to the fresh graduates and in the coming days they might leave the state, the letter said.
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Will fight those who installed 'fake' Parashurama statue: Karkala Congress leader
Karkala: Town Municipality member and Congress spokesperson Shubhada Rao has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of duping citizens by installing a fibre glass statue of warrior-sage Parashurama at the new theme park in Karkala despite claiming that a bronze statue would be installed there.
Addressing a meeting held at the Bailuru Marigudi Hall on Saturday by the Karkala Parashurama Theme Park Welfare Committee demanding the installation of a bronze statue of the sage at the new park on the Umikal hills at Bailuru town, Rao clarified that the Congress had never opposed the development of the theme park or the installation of a statue of Parashurama at the park, but had expressed dissatisfaction at the BJP replacing the bronze statue meant to be used at the park with a fibre glass statue. He added that Congress aimed to unveil the truth regarding the statue.
Calling Karkala MLA Sunil Kumar's claims about the support of 65 legislators to him whom he could bring to the Parashurama hill as a bluff, Rao said that he would meet the legislator in Bengaluru itself with documentary proof to show that the statue was 'fake'. He also challenged Sunil Kumar to face the truth about the theme park.
A video containing information on the theme park, the statue, the correspondence between the government and the district administration as well as the gram panchayat, in addition to the court order was presented at the meeting.
