Child dies, junior doctors and attendants clash in JMCH

From a Correspondent

JORHAT, March 14: A clash took place between intern doctors of Jorhat Medical College Hospital (JMCH) and relatives of a dead female child late night on Friday after the parents of the deceased girl, identified as Priyakhee Kalita (2), alleged that the girl had died due to the negligence of doctors who did not turn up to examine her after she was admitted in the ICU and was not even provided oxygen. The private security staff of JMCH even resorted to hitting the family members, relatives of the girl and attendants of other patients.

Pankaj Bora, a Limca Book of Records holder, was attacked by a group of around 80 intern doctors when he tried to record on camera of the scuffle between the deceased girl’s relatives and the intern doctors and the private security guards. Talking to The Sentinel, Bora said, “My father was admitted in the adjacent ward and I heard people shouting and saw them fighting. I tried to capture the incident when the intern junior doctors overpowered me and thrashed me repeatedly and forcefully deleted the video from my mobile phone. These junior doctors are hooligans at night who remain drunk and have a nexus with the security guards. They harass people in the me of service to mankind. The person leading the gang was the private security staff Jitu Kalita who was totally drunk.”

Meanwhile, a relative of the deceased girl said, “We first brought Priyakhee for check-up at JMCH on March 12 when doctors told us to admit her in the Swine Flu isolation ward. Hearing the word Swine Flu we got scared and went back home. But the next day seeing her health deteriorating, we brought her again and this time she was admitted to the ICU. But after the prelimiry check up no doctors turned up nor did they provide any medication. At around 10:30 pm we saw the oxygen mask removed and then she died.  We demanded to know the reason and threatened to complain to higher authorities. Then the junior doctors and the private security guards attacked us after switching off the lights of the corridor and the rooms. They have a CCTV installed here and the incident has definitely been  recorded.”