3 JJ docs assaulted after 35-yr-old dies

Angry relatives of a 35-year-old patient reportedly assaulted three doctors, including a female doctor, at JJ Hospital in Byculla, late on Monday night.

Angry relatives of a 35-year-old patient reportedly assaulted three doctors, including a female doctor, at JJ Hospital in Byculla, late on Monday night.

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Alleging negligence on the part of the doctors, a mob comprising relatives of the deceased, Maqdoom Ashrafi, also ransacked the casualty ward of the hospital.

Two of the relatives, Wasim Ahmed Ashrafi (26) and Fazal Ashrafi (21), were arrested by the J J Marg police on charges of stopping a government employee from discharging his duties and later released on bail.

Ashrafi and another patient Hajimudin (16), both residents of Dongri, were rushed to the hospital at 11:50 pm, after they fell from the second floor of a building.

“While Hajimudin had minor injuries and was admitted to the surgery ward, Ashrafi was brought in a critical state,” said Dr H H Jadhav, superintendent, J J Hospital.

Police said Dr Shweta Kale (25), who was on duty, declared Maqdoom as brought in dead. This infuriated the accused.

“The two went wild and started abusing the doctors. They used a stool to break the glass of a table, and pushed Kale and her associate in anger,” said K Patil, senior police inspector of JJ Marg police station.

Hospital sources said that an hour after Ashrafi was declared dead, a mob of about 20 angry relatives barged into the casualty room and began vandalising hospital property.

Kale and two other interns were reportedly beaten up with chairs.

“The female doctor has head injuries and the ward boy was badly thrashed. Both the doctors and the hospital staff are petrified. The guards on duty were also roughed up,” said Dr Jadhav.

Hospital authorities said they are waiting for the post-mortem report to establish whether the patient had died before or

after being brought to the hospital.