A patient at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Rajendra Nagar allegedly attacked a senior doctor with a small knife during a consultation in his chamber, the police said on Wednesday.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Sanjay Sain said the accused, Rajkumar, 21, has been bound down and could be asked to join the investigation, failing which he may be arrested. According to the FIR filed on the complaint of the victim Satnam Singh Chhabra, chairman at the hospital’s department of neurosurgery, the incident took place around 3.30 p.m., Tuesday.
Dr. Chhabra said that Rajkumar had entered his chamber seeking treatment for his spinal cord tumour. “I had operated [Rajkumar] for a similar problem in 2021 and informed him he needed another operation. He said he does not have the money, so I told him to get admitted to the free ward. When he was going to get the free OPD card, I told him to return tomorrow and promised to get the card for him,” he added.
Graphic | Photo Credit: Vithushan
“Suddenly, he took out a knife and put it on my neck to kill me. I managed to push his hand away and called my attendant. He and a security guard overpowered Rajkumar and handed him to the security. I got a cut on my right thumb,” he added.
Sources said that Rajkumar, a resident of Bihar, had come to the hospital along with his family. “He has been undergoing treatment for years, but was annoyed at the doctor as it did not reduce his pain,” an officer said.
The DCP said action has been initiated under IPC Section 324 and The Medical Professionals and Medical Institution Bill, 2018, against the accused.
Doctors hit out
Condemning the attack, Sharad Kumar Agarwal, national president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), told The Hindu, “There needs to be a Central Act against such violence. There has to be awareness that such attacks cannot be normalised, medical cases are sensitive. I understand patients are angry, but there is a certain way to behave.”
He said that during the pandemic, there were temporary rules to ensure safety of doctors amid assaults by patients and their kin. The Government of India had notified the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2000, on September 28, 2020, to protect healthcare personnel from acts of violence. “However, once COVID-19 got over, the rules were removed and doctors were left to safeguard themselves,” Dr. Agarwal said.
The IMA national president suggested deploying security groups to handle mobs at hospitals and manage law and order.
Ajay Swaroop, chairman of the board of management at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said there is a security apparatus in place. “The focus should rather be on raising awareness on how patients should not take law and order in their hands. That is the bigger issue,” he added.
