By IANS
Hyderabad : Doctors of the government-run Niloufer Hospital here intensified their strike Tuesday with senior doctors staging protests to demand stern action against a legislator for manhandling them.
Medical services remained paralysed at Niloufer, the biggest government-run hospital for children in the state, as the strike by junior doctors entered the third day with their senior colleagues also staging protests.
With the death of an infant early Tuesday, the number of children who have died at the hospital due to alleged lack of medical care mounted to 13.
The junior doctors went on a flash strike Sunday night demanding that the police file an attempt-to-murder case against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislator Afsar Khan. Some women doctors alleged that the legislator and his supporters assaulted them and demanded that he be booked on charges of outraging the modesty of women.
The strike has spread to all hospitals attached to medical colleges in the state following a call by Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJDA).
The state government has turned down the demand for slapping an attempt to murder case against the legislator. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said the doctors had no right to dictate under which section a person should be booked. He, however, condemned the attack on doctors.
Though the government has assured round the clock security at all hospitals and a thorough probe into Sunday’s incident, the junior doctors have stuck to their demand for Khan’s suspension from assembly.
“The strike will continue till all our demands are accepted by the government,” said APJDA president G. Raju. There are about 5,000 junior doctors in 10 hospitals attached to medical colleges in the state.
The Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association (APGDA), which represents senior doctors, said it was yet to decide its future course of action.
According to the doctors, the trouble began Sunday when Junaid Khan, an MIM activist, admitted his one-year-old daughter who was suffering from respiratory problems to the hospital. Angry over the alleged delay in treatment to her, Junaid and his relatives created a ruckus. Junaid was arrested on a complaint from the doctors.
Afsar, on learning about Junaid’s detention, went to the hospital and asked the doctors to withdraw the case. When the doctors refused, he and his supporters started abusing them and reportedly manhandled them.
Police arrested more than 100 doctors Monday evening. They were later released on bail.