Mumbai, Nov 8 A shocking incident of violence against medical staff was reported at R.N. Cooper Government Hospital in Mumbai, where three doctors on emergency duty were allegedly assaulted by the relatives of a patient who died during treatment, the hospital said in a statement on Saturday.
According to hospital authorities, a 65-year-old woman was brought to the emergency ward with severe breathlessness and extreme weakness on Friday evening.
She was immediately attended to by the on-duty Casualty Medical Officer (CMO), Gaurav Anandgaonkar, Medicine Resident Karan, and interns Prashant Bhadke and Rahul Pradhan.
Despite prompt CPR and other life-saving measures, the patient could not be revived and was declared dead at 12:32 a.m. on Friday.
Following the declaration, one of the patient’s relatives reportedly turned violent and began physically attacking the doctors.
Anandgaonkar was struck multiple times on the face, Intern Prashant Bhadke was assaulted, and Medicine Resident Karan sustained injuries to the face, eye, chest, and abdomen while trying to protect his colleagues.
The hospital said the assault took place inside the casualty ward "in full public view", alleging that security personnel present on duty failed to intervene.
"Despite repeated calls for help, no immediate response was received, allowing the assailant to continue his violent behaviour unchecked," the statement said.
It further named the contractual security staff -- Sanjay Lite, Deepchand, Vikas Kate, and Palan Thakur -- accusing them of negligence and dereliction of duty.
Terming the incident "alarming and unacceptable", the hospital said doctors were attacked while performing their duty and trying to save a life -- a situation that "cannot be tolerated under any circumstance".
A complaint has been filed at the Juhu Police Station.
The police have registered a case against the accused, identified as Sameer Abdul Jabbar Shaikh, under IPC sections 121(1), 132, 352, and 351(2).
Investigation is underway.
The injured doctors have been treated and are reported to be stable.
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