Tension prevailed in the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, on Friday after a child died of poisoning amidst a lightning strike by junior doctors.
The doctors had gone on strike since midnight on Thursday, alleging that a relative of the said patient had manhandled the doctor in charge. The junior doctors had complained to the Superintendant of the Mother and Child Welfare Centre about the issue on Thursday. They were irritated by the lack of action on the part of the Superintendant and hence went on strike.
Mohammed Nabeel, 4, from Thalakkulathur was admitted to the Mother and Child Welfare Centre at the medical college on Wednesday night after he was bitten by a snake while returning home after a Milad-e-Sherif rally. His grandmother Fathima, 65, the only bystander at that time, in her anxiety, allegedly hit the doctor when she was informed that the child was in a critical condition. The other relatives later said that she was in a peculiar state of mind and that she was only trying to hold the doctor.
However, the issue grew out of proportion and it resulted in around 700 doctors, including postgraduate students and house surgeons, going on a strike. The functioning of the medical college was disrupted as the junior doctors boycotted even the casualty and labour room. The very few duty doctors present were unable to handle the situation.
The child died when the negotiation between the hospital authorities and the doctors was going on. The strike was withdrawn after the police promised to register a case against Fathima.