In an incident concerning the safety healthcare workers, a patient attacked a female doctor at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.
The incident occurred in the emergency ward on August 24. CCTV footage at the hospital ward shows the doctor being chased by the patient from behind. He pulls her hair and bangs her against a metal frame of the hospital bed. The attacker was immediately apprehended by duty doctors and bystanders.
The attacker has been identified as Bangaru Raju, a native of Bobbili in Vizianagaram district, who was hospitalised for epilepsy. He was reportedly admitted to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam’s (TTD) Ashwini Hospital earlier but later shifted to SVIMS.
The motive of the attack remains unclear.
Following the incident, several junior doctors and healthcare workers conducted a sit-in demanding safety at workplace.
The female doctor highlighted safety concerns in her written complaint to the hospital’s director. She said that had the attacker been armed with a sharp object the situation would have been life threatening.
This incident comes in the backdrop of the recent rape and murder of a Kolkata-based resident doctor on August 9.
The brutal crime resulted in a nationwide protest by various healthcare workers demanding the implementation of central protection act for healthcare workers and a safe working environment.
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