PG student attacked by pro-Kannada group: Doctors protest in B'luru hospital continues

Despite the fact that a complaint was given on Friday night to the VV Puram police station, no arrests have been made.
PG student attacked by pro-Kannada group: Doctors protest in B'luru hospital continues
PG student attacked by pro-Kannada group: Doctors protest in B'luru hospital continues

Chants of ‘horaata horaata nyaayakkagi horaata’ (fight fight - for justice we fight) filled the air outside the New Out Patient Department (OPD) block at Bengaluru’s Victoria Hospital. Scores of doctors had taken to an indefinite strike, which began on Saturday. This followed an incident where a postgraduate student was mobbed and harassed on Friday evening in the outpatient department of the Minto Eye Hospital on the same premises.

“It was a holiday for Karnataka Rajyotsava so only doctors who were on duty were in the OPD. Our postgraduate student was tending to cases when a mob of around twenty to thirty people barged into the clinic,” says Dr Nitin, a consultant from the Department of General Surgery who was also on the hospital campus on Friday night.

Despite the fact that a complaint was given on Friday night to the VV Puram police station, no arrests have been made. The doctors are demanding police action be taken against the perpetrators and have decided to go on strike until this demand is met.

A complaint was filed by the dean of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), DR HS Satish with the VV Puram Police after which police filed an FIR against unknown members of the KRV.

A video of the incident from Friday evening shows the mob, who are allegedly members of the pro Kannada group, Karnataka Raksha Vedike, walking into the hospital and surrounding the female doctor. The group of individuals is seen chanting different slogans, “we want justice, we need a solution, and down down to the doctors of Minto." They were allegedly there on behalf of two patients who lost their eyesight following cataract surgery performed at the hospital in July.

As they begin confronting the doctor, who is heard replying in English saying that she does not want to reply, someone from the group questions why she isn’t speaking in Kannada.

Witnesses of the incident stated that the groups members surrounded the doctor and held her by the arm. They forced another doctor who was filming the incident to stop.

“It’s not the first time that something like this has happened. We come here to work, and now there’s this constant fear that something might happen. How many more times do we have to ask for security measures to be increased so that our safety is not at risk?” questions another protester, Dr Pooja, who is an acquaintance of the postgraduate student who was attacked.

Speaking to TNM, Sanirappa, KRV General Secretary, denied that the issue was related to the doctor speaking in English. "The affected patients approached us for help and we decided to help them. These people come from poor places and trusted the hospital but have now ended up losing their eyesight, they hadn’t been given the compensation. That is all we wanted to ask about,” he said.

“When we came here, the doctors behaved in a disgusting way. As you might have seen in the media, the doctors don't respect Kannada and despite knowing the language they do not speak it,” claimed one of the members of the group in a video addressing the media.

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