Thiruvananthapuram: More than 10 attacks against doctors have been reported in Kerala after the new Left Democratic Front government came to power in late May.
Apart from scuffles over Covid vaccine distribution, there have been incidents of duty doctors being physically attacked and verbally abused. However, the police have not reportedly taken sufficient action in such cases.
In the case pertaining to the attack on Dr Rahul Mathew of the Mavelikkara district hospital, a civil police officer was named as the accused. After a strike was held to protest the delay in arresting the accused, such instances started getting more attention. The Government Medical Officers Association and the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had staged the state-wide strike.
Accused Abhilash R Chandran turned up at the police station only after the High Court granted him bail.
In another instance, Dr Sharath Chandra Bose of the primary health centre at Kuppapuram in Kuttanad was assaulted over a dispute on vaccines. Kainakary grama panchayat president M C Prasad, CPM Kainakary south local committee secretary P D Raghuvaran and CPM worker Vishakh Vijayan are the accused in the case. Though the case was filed, only Vishakh was nabbed by the police. Prasad and Raghuvaran secured bail from the court before turning up at the police station.
In the case pertaining to the attack on a doctor at the CSI Medical Mission Hospital at Chelachuvadu in Idukki, the accused had gone into hiding. They appeared before the probe officer after securing anticipatory bail from the High Court.
Earlier Health Minister Veena George had given a reply in the Assembly that such attacks had not been noticed. But after her reply sparked a controversy, this was corrected. The health department has started a probe into the lapses in preparing the first reply.
