Mumbai, July 8 (IANS). Political controversy has intensified in Maharashtra over the incident of alleged assault of female doctors and hospital staff by a Shiv Sena corporator in Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation area. Opposition parties have accused the ruling coalition of misuse of power and demanded strict action against the culprits.
At the same time, state government ministers have also condemned this incident, termed it unacceptable and have assured appropriate action. The accused have also been arrested.
Talking to reporters, Aditya Thackeray said, “I have demanded from the government and the Chief Minister that corporator Ramesh Mhatre should not only be arrested, but he should also be disqualified from the post of corporator. He should be paraded in Kalyan and Dombivali, so that people get the message that no one can be attacked, especially doctors and nurses, whether they are men or women.”
Rohit Pawar termed the incident as ‘hooliganism’ and said that only people in power are promoting such behaviour. He said, “What happened to the doctor is completely wrong. The doctor had clearly told that there is no space available in the hospital. There could be a threat to the life of both the pregnant woman and the child, so the doctor advised the family to temporarily go to a private hospital. After this, a corporator from the ruling party entered the hospital and assaulted the women doctors and staff. We strongly condemn this and stand with the doctors.”
Nana Patole said that after getting the huge majority, the ruling coalition has become arrogant. He said, “They feel that they will always be in power and have started behaving like rulers. This arrogance has increased so much that women doctors and nurses have been attacked. This is the land of Savitribai Phule and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, where the honor of women is considered supreme. We will raise this issue and demand immediate action from the government.”
Aslam Sheikh alleged that the government is intoxicated with power. He said, “If there is a lack of facilities in a government hospital, then it is the responsibility of the government to remove it, but instead of increasing the facilities, work is being done to intimidate women doctors and staff. This is very shameful.”
Saroj Ahire said that any complaint should be resolved through legal and administrative process. She said, “I condemn this incident. Raising hands on a woman is absolutely wrong. If anyone has a complaint, he can approach the concerned authorities, the Deputy Chief Minister or the Chief Minister.”
Maharashtra Minister Meghna Bordikar termed the incident as unfortunate and said that no public representative should behave like this. He said that doctors, nurses and health workers work continuously to provide better treatment to the patients. An FIR has been registered in this matter and steps will be taken to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future.
Minister Prakashrao Abitkar said that everyone should follow the code of conduct and action will be taken against whoever is found guilty.
At the same time, Minister Yogesh Kadam said that if doctors have been attacked then it is completely wrong and unacceptable. Any complaint should be raised with the concerned department, violence is not the solution.
Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad said that he had not seen any video in which corporator Ramesh Mhatre was seen hitting the woman doctor.
He said that there is also a need to pay attention to the functioning of government hospitals in Maharashtra. He claimed that some employees have the mindset that whether the patients get treatment or not, they will still get their salaries.
Let us tell you that this incident happened on 6th July. According to the hospital administration, doctors had told the relatives of a pregnant woman that the newborn baby might need to be admitted to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) after birth, but all the NICU beds in the hospital were already filled.
Doctors advised the family to go to a hospital where NICU facilities are available. There was a dispute regarding this matter.
In the CCTV footage, some people are seen entering a room of the hospital along with the corporator and allegedly assaulting the doctors and staff. The attack lasted for more than three minutes.
In the video, a female doctor is seen trying to call someone from her mobile phone. Meanwhile, the corporator allegedly attacked him from behind, due to which his mobile phone fell from his hand. After this, there are allegations of assault on other hospital employees also.
The incident has been strongly condemned by political parties and the medical community and has demanded strict and prompt action against the culprits.
–IANS
AMT/DKP
