MEERUT Four junior doctors at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College (LLRMMC) are now facing legal action, with sections of the SC/ST Act included in the case against them. These doctors were suspended following allegations of assaulting attendants of a minor patient who arrived at the hospital on Monday night. The legal action comes after a purported video of the incident went viral on social media.
Arvind Chaurasia, Circle Officer of the civil lines area, revealed, “Initially, a case was registered under sections 147 and 323 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against three junior doctors, and later, another doctor’s name was added to the case after a thorough examination of the viral video.” The inclusion of SC/ST Act sections into the case occurred on Wednesday following a meeting with a delegation of the victim’s family, who handed over a memorandum to Chaurasia. The investigation into the matter is currently ongoing.
Simultaneously, a three-member committee of doctors, appointed by the medical college’s principal, Dr RC Gupta, conducted interviews with both sides involved in the incident on Wednesday. The committee, led by Dr Gyabeshwar Taak, will prepare a report to be submitted to the principal.
The victim, Kunal, a five-year-old child and son of Deepa Kumar from Kamalpur village, had suffered a thumb injury from a fodder machine. He was brought to the emergency room on Monday night, where Dr Abhishek, Dr Aditya, and Dr Abdul were on duty.
{{/usCountry}}The victim, Kunal, a five-year-old child and son of Deepa Kumar from Kamalpur village, had suffered a thumb injury from a fodder machine. He was brought to the emergency room on Monday night, where Dr Abhishek, Dr Aditya, and Dr Abdul were on duty.
{{/usCountry}}The child was in pain, and reportedly, one of the attendants requested the doctors to handle the child with care. This request appeared to agitate the doctors, ultimately leading to a heated confrontation between the medical professionals and the patient’s caretakers. The family of the patient accused the doctors of physically assaulting them during the incident.
A bystander recorded the entire altercation, and the video quickly went viral on social media. Dr Gupta, responding to the public outcry, suspended the three doctors pending an investigation.
However, Dr Gupta provides an alternative account, stating that the junior doctors were taking a photograph of the child’s injury to seek advice from their senior colleagues for the treatment. According to his version, one of the caretakers seized the mobile phone and threw it on the ground, triggering the altercation.