Doctors assaulted in Cooper Hospital, MARD warns of strike if security not increased by Monday

The police said that the accused, Sameer Abdul Jabbar Shaikh (35), attacked the doctors after his 57-year-old mother, Sayyeda, was declared dead on arrival. “Her blood pressure was unrecordable. Doctors began CPR after informing seniors, but she could not be revived,” said a police officer at Juhu police station

MUMBAI: Three doctors were assaulted by a patient’s relative inside the emergency ward of R N Cooper Hospital, Juhu, late on Friday night, prompting resident doctors and interns to suspend duties on Saturday. Over 300 doctors and interns staged a peaceful protest at Cooper Hospital’s OPD gate on Saturday evening, while the BMC wing of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) warned that if concrete action was not taken by 5 pm on Monday, resident doctors across the municipal hospitals of KEM, Sion, Nair and Cooper would go on mass leave, suspending all non-emergency services.

iMumbai, India - November 08, 2025: Peaceful protest gathering by Cooper Hospital residents in continuation of their ongoing agitation following the violent incident that occurred in the EMS on the previous day in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, November 08 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The police said that the accused, Sameer Abdul Jabbar Shaikh (35), attacked the doctors after his 57-year-old mother, Sayyeda, was declared dead on arrival. “Her blood pressure was unrecordable. Doctors began CPR after informing seniors, but she could not be revived,” said a police officer at Juhu police station.

An FIR was registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and under the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010. “We have registered the offence and allowed Shaikh to go after serving him a notice,” said the police officer.

The attack, which took place at around 12.30 am, left the three on-duty doctors—casualty medical officer (CMO) Dr Gaurav Anandgoankar, intern Dr Prashant Bhadke and resident doctor Karan Desai—injured before security personnel intervened. Dr Bhadke said the violence unfolded when the woman was brought to the casualty ward by a male and female relative. “She was gasping,” he said. “I checked her vitals and found that she had a very narrow pulse. We immediately took her to the EMS (emergency medical service) where no pulse was observed, so I began CPR along with another intern.”

Bhadke said that it was during this time that the male relative began threatening him, saying that if the woman did not survive, he would not spare the doctors. “After we were unable to revive the patient, he hit the CMO, and then punched me on my face, chest and abdomen before attacking Dr Karan, the resident doctor who intervened,” he said. “It was frightening. I do not want to go through this again.” All three doctors sustained facial and head injuries, and Dr Gaurav suffered swelling around the eye.

Dr Kelkar added that the incident had left doctors deeply shaken. “The patient’s mother was brought in critical condition, and before the doctors could explain her status, the relative began hitting the staff,” he said. “The CMO is under severe stress. No one feels safe working here anymore.”

MARD condemned the “inhumane and unacceptable” attack and demanded strict action against the assailant and negligent security staff. “Despite repeated warnings about security gaps, no preventive measures were taken. The security personnel on site barely intervened,” said Dr Chinmay Kelkar, president of BMC MARD.

MARD’s demands include round-the-clock deployment of trained marshal/MSF security staff, arrest of the attacker under the Medicare Protection Act, suspension of negligent security supervisors, installation of panic alarms and restricted entry systems, 30-day CCTV data backup, monthly safety audits, and better living and working conditions for resident doctors.

The Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) also condemned the assault. “At Cooper, only contractual security guards are deployed, offering little protection,” said ASMI president Utkarsh Lakhe. “If this isn’t resolved by Monday, interns across all four BMC hospitals will join the strike.”

Following the outcry, the BMC’s chief security officer deployed additional guards for all three shifts at Cooper Hospital. The medical superintendent held an emergency meeting on Saturday with MARD, the Medical Officers’ Association, and the Interns’ Association.

Senior civic officials, including director of major hospitals Dr Neelam Andrade and deputy municipal commissioner (Health) Sharad Ughade, have scheduled a top-priority meeting at the BMC headquarters on Monday. “The safety of healthcare staff is our utmost priority and we are convening a meeting to address how we should ensure more security for the doctors at our hospitals, mainly in Cooper Hospital,” said a senior BMC official.