The Kerala chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for a state-wide strike on March 17 in protest against the delay in arresting all the accused in the alleged attack on a doctor at Fatima Hospital in Kozhikode a week ago. On the night of March 4, a senior cardiologist was allegedly attacked by a group of people who had accompanied a pregnant woman admitted at the private hospital. Doctors will abstain from work from 6 am to 6 pm, a press release from the IMA state branch said.

The IMA, in its release issued by state president Sulfi Nuhu and state secretary Joseph Benaven, said that attacks in hospitals in the state were happening at the rate of one incident in five days and that there have been around 200 such attacks in the past three years. “The attack against the doctor in Kozhikode was shocking. It has been a week since the attack happened, that too in the presence of the police. All the accused are not arrested yet. The doctors’ fraternity is concerned that courts’ guidelines on attacks on doctors are not followed in the state. IMA, considering the concerns of the doctors practising in the state, urges for an atmosphere to work fearlessly and confidently (sic),” the release read.

The IMA has also put forward the following demands:

> Take action to declare hospitals as protected zones

> Ensure that the High Court directions on attacks against hospitals are strictly followed

> Probe the circumstances in which the accused escaped during the Fatima Hospital attack

> Withdraw cases filed against doctors who were taking part in protests

The Kozhikode chapter of the IMA had called for a boycott of all outpatient services, except those related to labour wards and casualty treatment on March 6.