Kerala: CM Vijayan expresses grief over murder of female health worker, assures security

Kochi (Kerala) [India], May 12 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday expressed grief over the death of a woman doctor, who was allegedly stabbed to death by a patient, assuring that necessary security will be provided in hospitals.

Addressing the Youth Literature Festival in Kochi, Vijayan said, "This is very sad. A high-level meeting was held yesterday to discuss ways to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. Necessary security will be provided in hospitals. More things will be checked and further action will be taken based on that. Health workers need not worry."

Deceased Dr Vandana Das (23) was murdered after the accused, S Sandeep (42), stabbed the house surgeon to death in the hospital on Tuesday.

The accused, who was under police custody, was brought to the government hospital for a mandatory medical checkup.

He also attacked others and vandalised the hospital. A home guard and a sub-inspector also sustained stab injuries in the incident. Dr Vandana was shifted to KIMS hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she succumbed to her injuries, police added.

Kerala's Kottarakkara magistrate court on Wednesday remanded the accused, G Sandeep, to 14 days' police custody in the house surgeon murder case.

Earlier, on Thursday, the Kerala CM said the government has decided to bring necessary amendments to the Hospital Protection Bill to ensure the safety of health workers in light of the incident.

The government will bring the ordinance bill in the next cabinet meeting. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by the CM on Friday in the wake of the murder of Dr Vandana Das while on duty.

CM Vijayan said police checkposts will be set up at all major hospitals. "Amendments will be made to ensure the strict implementation of the Kerala Health Care Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act,2012," the CM said.

The CM added, "Changes in the definitions of health institutions and health workers in the existing law, punishments etc. will be brought from time to time. Discussions in this regard have to be held under the supervision of the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary of the Home department, the principal secretary of the Health department and the Law secretary, and the amendment proposals will have to be submitted before the Cabinet meeting."

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