Relative beats doctor, paints his face with ink for alleged negligence

RANCHI: A doctor was heckled and had his face painted with ink by the relatives of a patient on Sunday morning over allegations of negligence.

The management of Guru Nanak Hospital in Ranchi lodged a complaint with the Chutia police station at noon.

In its complaint, the hospital management accused one AK Verma of heckling Dr. Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, painting his face with black ink and threatening him of dire consequences.

“The accused is a resident of Chutia. He has been detained,” Anil Kumar Karn, the officer-in-charge of Chutia police station, said. “The accused also filed a complaint against the doctor and the hospital saying they were neglecting the treatment of his ailing mother who is admitted in the hospital’s intensive care unit,” the officer added.

Verma’s mother Saraswati Devi (92 years) was admitted to the hospital on April 7 with kidney ailments and has been in ventilator since. According to Mandeep Singh, the hospital’s manager, Verma had requested that her mother be put under Dwivedi’s observation from that of Dr. Ashutosh Saran.

The incident happened when Dwivedi visited the hospital for his morning round. “Verma attacked him from behind without any provocation. He beat the doctor and put ink all over his face,” Singh added.

Sunday’s incident was the latest in the list of scuffles between doctors and the relatives of their patients in Ranchi. The doctors on Sunday once again demanded the implementation of medical protection laws in the state.