Patna doc assaulted: IMA writes to DGP, seeks arrest of culprits

The IMA sought the intervention of Bihar’s director-general of police (DGP) in arresting the culprits on a priority basis and said that more such incidents had taken place in the state of late.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Bihar chapter, has demanded the immediate arrest of culprits involved in the physical assault on a private doctor and damage to his clinic by alleged attendants of a patient late Monday evening in Patna.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Bihar chapter, has demanded immediate arrest of culprits involved in physical assault on a private doctor and damage to his clinic by alleged attendants of a patient late Monday evening in Patna. (FILE)

The IMA sought the intervention of Bihar’s director-general of police (DGP) in arresting the culprits on a priority basis and said that more such incidents had taken place in the state of late.

In a joint letter to the DGP on Tuesday, shared with the media, the national IMA president-elect Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh, IMA-Bihar president Dr Ajay Kumar and its secretary Dr Sunil Kumar condemned the police for not visiting the place of occurrence to either inquire or to arrest the accused even 15 hours after the incident.

Copies of the letter were marked to the Bihar chief minister, the health minister, the chief secretary, additional chief secretaries of the health and the home departments as well as the officer-in-charge of the Kadamkuan police station.

The IMA regretted that the police were delaying in taking action against the accused despite the Bihar Clinical Establishment and Personal Safety Act, 2011, and the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020, for the protection of medical professionals and their clinical establishments.

The IMA had enclosed a copy of the FIR filed by Dr Amit Kumar of the Kalyani orthopaedics and gynaecological centre and termed such acts as reprehensible, which dented the confidence of the medical professionals and tarnished the image of the state’s healthcare system.

In his FIR, Dr Kumar alleged that relatives of a local patient, who came to his clinic in labour pain on September 27, had refused to make advance part-payment for the delivery while also refusing to sign the risk bond before any procedure. When the doctor requested the patient’s husband to sign the risk bond, his relatives, some of whom were allegedly in an inebriated condition roughed him up and also damaged his clinic.

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