Angry relatives ransacked a 30-bedded hospital at Vempalle mandal headquarters in Kadapa district, infuriated over the death of a patient late on Tuesday night.
The incident, occurring in the constituency of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, created uproar among the medical fraternity.
Ramu (20), a resident of Vempalle SC Colony, complained of chest pain and was rushed to hospital, where the duty nurse found him ‘brought dead’. The doctor, who had gone home for dinner, returned after a while to confirm the same.
Blaming the doctor’s absence for the death, the patient’s relatives squatted with the body and staged a demonstration at the hospital. They narrated previous instances of alleged negligence by the doctor and demanded that he be sacked.
Police intervene
The relatives also accused the nurses of behaving in a high-handed manner and smashed the windscreens of the 104 ambulance on the hospital premises. When the situation threatened to go out of control, police intervened and shielded the hospital staff from being attacked by the frenzied mob. The Community Health Centres (CHC) coordinator, who held discussions over the issue with stakeholders on Wednesday morning, also took note of the complaints made against the duty doctor and appealed to the medical fraternity to be on their best behaviour with the public.
“On the face of it, it appears to be an attack by the victim’s relatives, but the dwellers of the SC Colony vented their pent-up anger against the duty doctor, narrating instances of alleged negligence in the past,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Pulivendula) R. Vasudevan told The Hindu , adding that appropriate legal action would be taken against the attackers.
