Government doctors in Tamil Nadu went on a day's strike in protest against the murder of a colleague who was killed on Monday night by the husband of one of her patients.
Over 16,000 doctors attached to government and private hospitals struck work demanding protection after the alleged murder of doctor T Sethulakshmi by the husband of a pregnant woman, Nithya, 24, admitted under Sethulakshmi’s care at the ESI Corporation hospital in Tuticorin.
Doctors attached to the ESI hospital said, Dr Sethulakshmi, an anaesthetist and medical officer, performed an emergency surgery. However, when Nithya developed further complications she decided to shift her to a private hospital and was accompanying her in an ambulance. But Nithya died on the way.
Soon after her husband, Mahesh, 27, stormed the private hospital and repeatedly stabbed Sethulakshmi, said Tuticorin SP J Rajendran.
Mahesh and three of his friends have been arrested.
The strike call was given by the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association and the IMA's Tamil Nadu State branch. The state unit has also given a call for a similar strike on Thursday.