IMA president demands ‘stringent’ act after mob attack on doctor in Assam

Dr JA Jayalal also called for hospitals to be announced as a protected zone. Twenty-four people have been arrested thus far in connection with the attack on Dr Seuj Kumar Senapathi.

Indian Medical Association (IMA) president JA Jayalal on Wednesday said the medical body was “anguished” over the mob attack on a doctor at a Covid Care Centre (CCC) in Assam after a Covid-19 positive patient died during treatment. The IMA urged the central government to do something to “save the morale and health of doctors”.

A video screengrab of the attack on Dr Seuj Kumar Senapati

“Indian Medical Association and the whole fraternity of the country are saddened and anguished to see the brutal attack on a young and vibrant doctor, Dr Seuj Kumar Senapati. This is the time the government should do something to save the morale and health of doctors,” Jayalal said, according to news agency ANI.

“On one side, people are commenting badly on doctors, and on the other side, people are badly assaulting doctors. Hospitals should be announced as a protected zone so that the security of doctors will be there. We demand stringent acts to prevent such incidents,” the IMA president further said, in an apparent reference to yoga guru Ramdev’s controversial comments on allopathy. On Tuesday, resident doctors in Delhi and several other cities observed “Black Day” as a mark of protest against Ramdev’s remarks.

As of Wednesday, the Assam Police had arrested 24 people in connection with the assault on Dr Senapati at the CCC in Hojai district, following the death of the patient a day earlier. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had taken cognisance of the incident, tweeted, “I am personally monitoring the investigation and I promise that justice will be served.”

A video of the mob attack, recorded presumably on a mobile phone, went viral on social media.

Also on Tuesday, the IMA wrote to Union home minister Amit Shah, requesting him to approve a “strong and effective” act to prevent violence against healthcare workers.