Doctors protest against assault by patient's family in Alipurduar

Siliguri: The doctors of the District Hospital in Alipurduar resorted to a protest against the assault on a doctor and have refused to attend the outpatient department (OPD) since Monday.

Sources said that on July 23, Sutapa Biswas, a resident

of Palashbari, had been

admitted to the hospital and had given birth to a baby boy on the same evening. She

was released on Sunday afternoon.

Due to repetitive complaints of a severe ache in the spine from Sutapa, Amrit Biswas, her husband, who is a police constable in the intelligence branch, refused to take his discharged wife home.

The patient party complained that the medications from the hospital were unable to cure Sutapa's ache.

During Dr. Mayukh Chakraborty's visit on Sunday evening, Amrit and one of his colleagues had an altercation with the doctor, going on to assault him in the female

ward.

The incident took place at around 7:30 pm on Sunday. Dr. Chakraborty had been rescued by the on-duty nurses and other staff present in the hospital premises. A meeting was held in the hospital on that very day at around 8:30 pm by the board of doctors, to discuss the incident.

Amrit has been missing since the incident. The rescued doctor had been admitted to the CCU.

Except for the indoor

emergency department, all the other services have been discontinued by the doctors, as a mark of protest against the assault.

The protest prompted the district administration to intervene, following which Amrit has been suspended by the district police.

"The doctors have boycotted the services of the hospital and set up a temporary camp near the hospital. We are trying to resolve the matter. We are having meetings with the high authorities to resolve the problem at the earliest," said Chinmay Burmun, the superintendent of the hospital.

Under the instructions of the superintendent, Sutapa and her son have not been released from the hospital yet.