Now, footwear hurled at woman doctor in Kerala, culprits arrested

Attacks on doctors are continuing in Kerala, with a woman doctor the latest target, for insisting that two men arriving for treatment take off their footwear before entering.

Anas and Samad were arrested by the Attingal police on Sunday after the woman doctor attached to a private hospital complained to police that she and a woman nurse were attacked by these men late on Saturday. Anas runs a bakery just opposite the hospital and both the youths had reached the hospital following a hand injury.

Doctor Jaya Salini complained that both youths were drunk and when she asked them to remove the footwear before entering the dressing room, they abused her and threw the footwear at her. While she escaped unhurt, the footwear hit a woman nurse who was on duty at the time in the emergency room.

Police said that both youths were in a drunken state at the time of the incident. They were produced before a magistrate and sent to judicial custody.

Recently, a woman doctor was attacked at Government Fort hospital while she was on night duty.

Dr Malu Murali told IANS said that two men arrived at the hospital at around 11.45 p.m. on Wednesday, "and when I enquired on the reason for the injury, they turned violent and hit me. My hands were twisted and one of them caught hold of my neck and kicked me. Even after I fell down, they continued to attack and were showering abuses on me".

The men, Rafiq and Rashid, were history-sheeters. Police arrested them and they have been sent to judicial custody.

In two other cases at Mavelikkara and Thaneermukkam in Alappuzha, doctors were assaulted on the issue of vaccination. In one incident, a CPI-M leader and his accomplices allegedly attacked the doctor and police are yet to arrest the culprits.

Protesting the series of attacks, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) conducted a series of protest marches across the state.

In another incident, a policeman attacked a doctor at Mavelikkara hospital alleging negligence on the part of the doctor led to the death of his mother. While the doctor and medical staff refuted the charges, the Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA), an umbrella body of doctors working in government service, and the IMA are asking as to how doctors can work in such trying conditions.