Patient’s kin threatens doctor in Mumbai for asking her to wear mask

DB Marg police on Wednesday booked a woman for allegedly abusing and threatening a Grant Road nursing home doctor who asked her to wear a mask at the health facility and not to crowd in the patient’s room. The police have not arrested the woman yet.

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The complainant, Dr Kavita Tilwani, 48, is a Malabar Hill resident and runs the SP Nursing Home along with her brother. In her complaint to the police, Dr Tilwani said on Monday, an eight-month pregnant patient was admitted at the nursing home for pregnancy-related complications and the next day.

On Wednesday, while the patient was in her room, around 20-22 of her relatives visited the nursing home to see her. Some of them were not wearing masks, stated the police complaint.

When Dr Tilwani visited the room for the patient’s check-up, she saw that the patient’s relatives were crowding the place, even as three women sat on the patient’s bed.

When Dr Tilwani raised objections over it and asked them to wear masks and leave the patient’s room, a woman sitting on the patient’s bed – Nafisa Abbas Lakdawala – started abusing her and also threatened to assault her, which led to an argument between the doctor and the patient’s relatives. Soon, the other staff members of the nursing home intervened, after which the patient’s relatives left the room.

Dr Tilwani complained about the incident to DB Marg police station, following which a case was registered under section 4 of the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010, against Lakdawala.

“We would verify the allegations made in the complaint and would soon record the statement of the accused and then file a charge sheet against her at the court,” said senior inspector Suryakant Bangar of DB Marg police station.