In June doctors across India protested a brutal attack on one of their colleagues by the relatives of a patient who died during treatment in West Bengal. It was a foreboding prelude to the Aug. 31 death of 73-year-old physician Deben Dutta at Teok Tea Estate.
Dr. DebenDutta, who was born and worked his entire life at Teok estate, was at home whena grievously injured worker was taken to the clinic around 3 p.m. Dutta arrivedwithin 10-15 minutes but the worker, Shri Somra Majhi, died,leading to angry shouts from family members that attracted a crowd.
A video widely distributedvia social media shows Dutta bleeding as he attempts to quell a rock-throwingcrowd that blocked ambulance staff. He was rescued by paramilitary police butsuccumbed in transit to Jorhat Medical College, the nearest local hospital.An indefinite lockout at the garden, one of several administered by AmalgamatedPlantations Private Ltd. (APPL),an ancillary of Tata Global Beverages.
The nation reacted inoutrage. Dutta’s death is the latest of six recent incidents, mainly in Assam,involving assaults on medical staff. The Assam government decided to fast-track the court totry the case following the arrest of 21 workers.
The violence comes amidrising tension over wages and objections by planters to pay the maximum annualbonus prior to the Durga Puja celebrations that begin in October. The UnionHealth Ministry subsequently proposedlegislation mandating imprisonment and hefty fines for assaulting healthservices personnel. This week, the state government in Assam agreed to a full20% bonus for workers.
Aparajita Dutta, wife ofthe deceased, wrote prime minister Shri Narendra Modi that her husband was“entirely innocent and there was no negligence on his part in treating thedemised patient.” She cited the “failure of the police and other securityforces in handling the angry mob resulting to the death of our beloved familymember.”
“The miscreants present inthe crowd not only hit the retired doctor with blows and kicks, but they alsostabbed him repeatedly with glass shreds from broken windowpanes. One of themiscreants in fact used a shred of broken glass to tear the trouser and cut theblood vessels in the right leg of the victim,” she wrote.
In May 2019 Dr. ProbinChandra Thakur, the medical officer at Dikom Tea Estate suffered broken bonesand fractured ribs after he was brutally assaulted by a group of garden workersfollowing the death of a woman he was treating. Early this month Dr.Mridusmita, the resident doctor at Dihing Tea Estate, was also attacked by a violenttea garden mob. Safety concerns subsequently led seven tea garden doctors toresign.
PKBhattacharjee, secretary-general of the India Tea Association said, "Thisincident and another assault on a medical officer in Dikom Tea Estate haveshaken the morale of tea garden executives, not to speak of medical officersworking in the plantations, many of whom have resigned since Dr. Dutta'sdeath."
Existinglaws to prevent violence and damage to property are not a deterrent againstsuch attacks, he said.
Doctors nationwide calleda 24-hour strike on Sept. 3 to protest the assault. The proposed legislationprompted doctors, pharmacists, and para-medical staff and their supporters tomarch in the streets of Jorhat.
The legislation proposes a10-year jail term and fines of INR10 lakh ($15,000) forthose found guilty of attacking doctors, hospital facilities and health careprofessionals.
“In theemotionally surcharged atmosphere of losing a loved one, it is the healthcareproviders who get to bear the brunt of the bereaved relatives’ misplacedanger,” writes The Tribune.“It is a much-needed safeguard for medical professionals, who, shaken by risingincidents of assault on doctors and vandalising of hospitals/clinics, have hadto strike work in their quest for protection of law.”
The IndiaMedical Association found that more than 75% of doctors across the country havebeen threatened in violent situations of which 50% took place in the IntensiveCare Unit of hospitals. In 70% of cases the relatives of patients were activelyinvolved.
Sources: The New India Express, The Tribune, NDTV, East Mojo