Shiv Sena corporator assaults doctors, nurses at Dombivli civic hospital after they refer complicated pregnancy to Sion Hospital

Two contractual doctors, Dr Vaibhav Salunkhe and Dr Shrusti Baviskar, and two nurses, Namita Ubale and Dravya Giri, working at Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar General Hospital, were assaulted after they recommended that 33-year-old Priyanka Urmale move to another hospital to better manage pregnancy-related complications.

MUMBAI: The medical staff of a hospital run by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) was allegedly assaulted by Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre and his supporters on Monday after the doctors referred a pregnant woman to Sion hospital for her delivery. The accused are currently absconding.

Kalyan, India - JULY 07 2026:Two doctors and nurses from Dombivli 's Shashtri Nagar hospital were assaulted by corporator and his supporters on Monday night .Pic on Tuesdays in India on 07 2026 - Story By Kaptaan Mali ( Photo By Pramod Tambe).

Two contractual doctors, Dr Vaibhav Salunkhe and Dr Shrusti Baviskar, and two nurses, Namita Ubale and Dravya Giri, working at Dombivli’s Shastri Nagar General Hospital, were assaulted after they recommended that 33-year-old Priyanka Urmale move to another hospital to better manage pregnancy-related complications.

“The sonography showed the baby’s umbilical cord wrapped twice around its neck,” medical officer of health Dr Deepa Shukla told HT. “Sensing that the delivery would be complicated and the child would need specialised neonatal care, the doctors referred the mother to Sion Hospital, since our own hospital’s 10 NICU beds were all occupied.” After the assault, Urmale was shifted to Vasant Valley Maternity Hospital, where she safely delivered the child on Monday night.

On Tuesday, Shastri Nagar General Hospital remained shut in protest even as outrage erupted in the medical fraternity. A delegation of the Kalyan-Dombivli units of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), comprising over 600 local private doctors, met KDMC commissioner Abhinav Goel and threatened to shut down all private hospitals and clinics in the area unless action was taken against the accused.

IMA’s Maharashtra unit has written to the health minister and the director-general of police demanding stringent action against the accused, irrespective of his political position. The state must send out a strong message that violence against doctors, nurses or medical staff will not be tolerated under any circumstances, it demanded.

Dr Atharva Shinde from the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors said that assaults on doctors had been repeatedly happening in the state. “We will meet the CM to demand that the Maharashtra Medical Doctors Protection Act be made more stringent and security be enhanced in government hospitals,” he said. “If there is insufficient government security staff at hospitals, private security should be deployed.”

Suhas Hemade, ACP, Dombivli, told HT that the Vishnu Nagar police had registered a case against four men, including Sena corporator Mhatre, and one woman under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and two other related Acts. “All are currently absconding, but we will arrest them soon,” he said.