Amid the nationwide unrest over safety of doctors and justice for the victim in the rape and murder case at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, a woman junior doctor was attacked by a patient at the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati.
The entire incident was caught on the CCTV camera, the video of which is now going viral.
The video shows an attacker running behind the doctor, grabbing her by the hair and banging her head on the steel frame of a hospital bed. The incident took place in a busy and fairly crowded hospital ward.
Doctors and other persons present at the scene immediately came to the doctor's rescue, caught hold of the attacker and overpowered him. The accused was later taken away.
The intern, then wrote a letter to the SVIMS director cum-vice chancellor Dr RV Kumar and said that she was on duty in the Emergency Medicine Department on Saturday.
"I was unexpectedly attacked by a patient, Bangaru Raju, who approached me from behind, pulled my hair and began forcibly banging my head against the steel rod of a cot," her letter was quoted by NDTV.
The junior doctor noted that no security personnel were present at the site at the time of the incident and raised serious concerns over safety at workplace.
"If patient had been armed with a sharp weapon, the situation could have escalated with severe consequences," the doctor wrote while demanding stringent measures to ensure safety of the entire staff.
Enraged by the incident, doctors of the medical facility staged a protest, demanding safety at workplace.
The incident comes weeks after the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor shocked the entire nation, triggering massive outrage over the safety of medical professionals at workplace. Doctors across the nation took to the streets to stage protests, demanding justice for the victim as well as enhanced security measures at hospitals.
While hearing the case, the Supreme Court last week had constituted a 10-member task force, to formulate a national protocol for ensuring safety and facilities for medical professionals. The top court had said that the National Task Force (NTF) will submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months.
The top court had observed that though there are legislations to protect medical professionals, they do not address the systemic issues.
