A doctor was stabbed to death at the hospital where she worked, by a drunk man in India’s Kerala state, on Wednesday, at 5 am.
Medical professionals have taken to the streets of Kerala, seeking justice for the young doctor.
Dr Vandana Das, 23, was on duty at the Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital, when she was attacked by the man who was brought to the hospital for a medical examination by the police.
The culprit S Sandeep, 42, a teacher at an upper primary school, attacked four others at the hospital, including policemen.
He was recently suspended from work and sent to a de-addiction centre to tackle his drinking habit.
The police had taken Sandeep into custody from his house Tuesday night, after they were alerted about Sandeep’s violent behaviour.
They then took him to the hospital for mandatory medical examination, as well as for the treatment of a wound on his leg. The man turned violent without any provocation and seized the surgical scissors in the hospital room while Dr Das was attending to his wound.
“He had consumed alcohol and was violent when we took him to the hospital. He was alone with the doctor as we are not allowed into the room when a patient’s wound is being dressed,” a police official told PTI.
He stabbed the young doctor repeatedly, before attacking the policemen who had taken him to the hospital.
Dr Das sustained multiple injuries; the preliminary postmortem confirmed that the cause of death was the 11 stab wounds she had suffered in the attack.
Dr Das was stabbed six times in the back and three times in the head. There were a total of 23 wounds on her body.
She died at KIMS Health, Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed to, on Wednesday morning. Her body will be cremated on the premises of her house at 2 pm on Thursday.
Dr Das is from Kottayam district in Kerala. She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was posted for duty for a month, at the Taluk hospital.
A representative of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said that doctors across Kerala will be protesting more against the attack.
“Such incidents should not happen. We (doctors) cannot continue working in such circumstances. It is unacceptable that our lives are in danger when we are trying to save lives. We had in the past too indicated our objections to such attacks on medical professionals. We are angry and sad over the incident,” he told PTI.
The IMA has called for a total strike in all the hospitals across Kerala state to last until 8 am on Thursday. The strike will not affect ICU or Emergency teams.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called the incident “shocking and extremely painful”. He said that a thorough investigation of the case would be held.
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
