Stabbing of resident docs rocks Yavatmal medical college

Students go on indefinite strike; high-level meeting held; cops agree to set up police chowkie

I am still scared and shaken. I don’t know why I was attacked by a patient," first-year resident Dr Jebastin Paul Addwin (25) told mid-day from the ICU of Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College (SVNGMC), Yavatmal, on Friday afternoon.

While the external wounds will heal in a few days, the scars of getting assaulted will remain for the rest of his life—as is the case with all medical students and professionals, who have faced the fury of mobs or been targeted by individuals. Medical students say it is high time the state government conducts a safety and security audit of all medical colleges located on the outskirts of Mumbai and take proactive steps to curtail such incidents.

On Thursday evening, Dr Jebastin and second-year resident Dr Abhishek Jha, who are attached to surgical unit 3 of SVNGMC, were assaulted by a patient under their care with a kitchen knife. The doctors were on their routine evening rounds, examining the patients admitted to male surgical ward no 25.

The incident has again highlighted the lax security arrangements in the government medical colleges and hospitals, especially at SVNGMC, where a medical student, Ashok Pal, was killed in 2020, just outside the college building. Last month, injured people from two different groups, who had come for treatment at SVNGMC, exchanged blows inside the hospital.

Within minutes of Thursday's incident, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Yavatmal, called for a flash strike, which was later supported by its other units in Maharashtra as well as the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Junior Doctors Network, Maharashtra Chapter. They demanded that a police chowkie be set up in the area and strong legal action against the offender. An additional demand, increasing security inside the campus and hospital, has been also made to the administration.

Dr Santosh Kadam, secretary of IMA Maharashtra, said, "The worrisome thing is that the patient had a sharp weapon. What were the security/watchmen doing? Yavatmal has become the crime capital of Maharashtra. This college witnessed the gruesome murder of a medical student in the recent past. Still, the administration is slumbering."

Also read: Take strict action against those responsible, say doctors after stabbing incident in Yavatmal

“Every time such a violent attack happens, agitations take place, meetings are held and the administration promises additional security. Slowly, we forget about everything and return to square one. After the incident at Dhule Medical College nearly two years ago, the government extended additional security at all medical colleges. Where is it now? The state and Central government must come out with a permanent solution to safeguard the medical profession and services. The long-standing demand of the medical fraternity for a Central Act against medicare violence is being given the cold shoulder. This shows the government's sheer apathy,” Dr Kadam concluded.

The incident

Dr Anup Shah, president, MARD, Yavatmal, and a third-year surgical resident, said, "The patient who attacked the doctors at SVNGMC, Suraj Thackeray, 28, is a resident of Arni Taluka in Yavatmal. He was admitted a few days ago for allegedly causing self-inflicted stab wounds in his abdomen, probably a failed suicide attempt."

Suraj Thackeray, the accused

“As the team of resident doctors moved away from his bed, Suraj suddenly attacked Dr Jebastin, stabbing him near his neck area from behind. Dr Jha, who intervened, sustained a minor injury. Other residents overpowered the patient and looked for the security guard all over, but no security guard was spotted on the entire second and first floor of the hospital building. The guard had to be called from the ground floor,” explained Dr Shah. Soon, the father and other relatives of the patient rushed into the ward and they were also shocked.

At the casualty ward

Dr Jebastin, who was bleeding profusely, was rushed to the casualty ward by residents, where Dr Shah, himself was on duty. “Dr Jebastin was in a state of shock and had sustained a 2x8-cm gash. Had the stab been a little deeper, it could have been fatal. We decided to operate on Dr Jebastin immediately to seal the blood flow. We could stop the bleeding by suturing the wounds and he was later shifted to the ICU, where he will continue to be under observation. Dr Jha had sustained a minor abrasion and cut on his finger and leg and did not require any admission,” said Dr Shah.

Suraj was expected to be discharged

Dr Shah said, “As the patient had a self-inflicted injury, he was referred for psychiatric evaluation. The psychiatrists could not find anything abnormal about Suraj and they stated that he was fit for discharge, subject to surgical clearance. And his wound was healing, a decision to discharge him was to be taken the day after he attacked our junior doctors.”

Calling off the strike

Asked about calling off the strike, Dr Shah, said, “The police and district collector, in a high-level meeting held at the college on Friday afternoon, agreed to set up a police chowkie on the hospital premises and ensure that strict action is taken against the accused, as per the law. We are now awaiting for the hospital administration to give this in writing to us. Once we receive the same, we will decide on calling off the strike." The agitation was still ongoing at the time of going to press.”

Medical college dean speaks

Dr Milind Fulpatil, dean of SVNGMC, said, “We have sought additional security from the higher authorities, as per the norms. The security personnel for the hospital and medical college is provided by the Maharashtra State Security Corporation and from a private agency, as per the security audit norms.” Asked about the present security strength, he said, “We have around 56 guards and have requested the authorities to double the number.”

Asked if the strike was affecting the hospital routine, the dean replied in the negative, stating, "Our faculties and seniors are on call. Also, there were no planned surgeries that had to be called off. The hospital is also reviewing this situation and providing security guards for resident doctors on their rounds to prevent such incidents."

Why wait for incidents?

Protesters stated that after residents protested in the wake of the murder of Dr Pal, the hospital administration for the first time installed CCTV cameras on the premises.
"The height of boundary walls was also increased as were floodlights and security guards. However, within three to four months, the strength of security guards dropped drastically. Why does the administration wait for such incidents,” asked an agitator.

Accused has no remorse

Dr Pavan Bansod, superintendent of police, Yavatmal said, “We booked Suraj under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and  326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon). Preliminary inquiries have revealed that the accused was eating fruit when the doctors visited him. He offered the fruit to the doctors, but they refused and asked to examine his abdomen wounds. Suraj refused them permission. As the doctors were about to move to the next bed, he used the knife in his hand to attack the doctor. Suraj is jobless, and even his parents are fed up with him, which was unfortunate."

He added, “We have agreed to construct a chowkie, but as the hospital and medical college is spread over a vast area, its administration will have to increase their security guards." "Unfortunately, the college does not have a separate prison and psychiatry ward. The former would help keep inmates in police custody while undergoing treatment while the latter would help in monitoring patients and doctors can take extra care while entering such wards,” said Dr Bansod.

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Day in January when incident occurred

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