Raiganj, West Bengal: Clash broke out at the Raiganj Government Medical College & Hospital (RGMCH) over allegations that a group of junior doctors didn’t attend to a child as they were busy watching the cricket match between India and England. Around eight junior doctors got injured in the clash and some of them are under treatment. The incident occurred when Raja Mondal, a trader and a resident of Bandar in Raiganj, brought his one-and-half-year-old boy at the RGMCH with abdominal pain at around 11.30pm. They took the boy to the emergency ward where the doctors on duty said the patient needed to be admitted to the female surgical ward for treatment. The junior doctors said those accompanying the boy suddenly turned violent and attacked them. As the news spread around 30 junior doctors who were at the hostel came running to the ward for help of on-duty doctors which led to mob clash between the doctors and those accompanying the patient.
On the other hand, Chaitali Ghosh, a former Trinamool Congress councillor who was accompanying the patient alleged that the junior doctors assaulted her and some others. Raja Mondal said “They took my son to the ward and admitted him. The child complained of pain but the junior doctors on duty didn’t attend to him. They were instead busy watching the cricket match on their mobile phones.” According to Mondal, some of the doctors misbehaved and attacked them when they were asked to take care of the child. “They beat us with iron stands that are used to hang saline bottles. Even Chaitali Ghosh and some other women who were with us were not spared,” he added.
As both sides clashed, the authorities informed the police and a team from Raiganj police station, along with central security forces, rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
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The junior doctors resorted to a demonstration on Thursday night and didn’t join duty on Friday. They also organised a sit-in on Friday, demanding action against the attackers. Regular functioning of the hospital got affected because of the agitation. There are around 120 junior doctors at RGMCH. “Those who came with the boy attacked the junior doctors without any provocation. There was no negligence in treating the patient,” said Kousik Samajdar, the principal of RGMCH. Both sides have filed police complaints and two persons identified as Choton Mondal and Joydeb Biswas have been arrested.
