24 arrested for assault on doctor in Assam’s Covid-19 care centre
GUWAHATI : The Assam police on Wednesday arrested 24 people for assaulting a doctor at a Covid Care Centre in Hojai district following the death of a patient a day earlier.
“Twenty-four culprits involved in this barbaric attack have been arrested and the charge sheet will be filed at the earliest. I am personally monitoring this investigation and I promise that justice will be served,” chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted.
A video of the incident shot on a mobile phone purportedly shows the group of people hitting the doctor with a broom and utensils, and kicking him while he lay on the ground. The video went viral on social media.
Hojai Superintendent of Police Barun Purkayastha said a critically ill Covid-19 patient succumbed to the disease at Udali Covid Care Centre on Tuesday afternoon. “Immediately after that, the relatives and a group of people known to the victim arrived there and started beating up the doctor,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying.
Indian Medical Association President Dr JA Jayalal on Wednesday expressed anguish over the incident in which a doctor was assaulted in Assam’s Hojai district and demanded that the Central Government should declare hospitals as a “protective zone”.
“Indian Medical Association and the whole fraternity of the country are saddened and anguished to see the brutal attack on the young and vibrant doctor Dr Seuj Kumar Senapati. This is the time government should do something to save the morale and health of doctors. Otherwise, the morale of doctors will go down and they will not try to take any serious cases,” Dr Jayalal said.
Director general of police (DGP) Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said such incidents will not be tolerated.
“And @assampolice would not let that happen... We WILL bring the perpetrators to justice... Let this be known, assaulting frontline worker will not be tolerated... A strong case is being made against them,” he said in a series of tweets.
Doctors at Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Wednesday staged a protest over the incident.
“We want the government’s support in this matter and ensuring our safety,” a protesting doctor said on condition of anonymity.