Mumbai: Shatabdi Hospital staffer bashed up by patient's relatives

Swapnil Pawar with the gaping wound on his forehead. Pic/ Rajesh Gupta

An X-ray technician was brutally assaulted and a doctor manhandled at the Shatabdi Hospital (Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya) in Govandi late last night. Relatives of a woman patient were unhappy as they felt the treatment given wasn't up to the mark. A complaint has been filed at Govandi Police station against three people. The technician had to get seven stitches for his head wound.

On the night of February 14, X-ray technician Swapnil Pawar, 30, was posted at the X-ray department adjacent to the casualty ward. Around 12.15 am, Pawar heard a heated exchange going on and he went to see what the matter was. "I went to casualty to look for Dr Nikhil Supe, who was on night duty, and saw him surrounded by four men. They were asking him to treat a woman patient," Pawar said. "The relatives wanted immediate treatment and were furious with Dr Supe who was requesting them to be patient," Pawar said.

A couple of minutes later, the men started to manhandle the doctor. Pawar intervened and asked the relatives to calm down. "One person in a green T-shirt caught hold of my collar and slapped me. The security guards then rushed to help and took all of us outside the ward," Pawar said.

When the relatives and Pawar had walked out, one of the men fetched an iron rod from somewhere and smashed it on Pawar's forehead. Before the guards could nab the men, they had escaped.

"The woman was having seizures and had been brought in by her brother and his friends. As the doctor was busy treating an emergency patient, the relatives felt they were being neglected, which resulted in the assault," said Shashikant Mane, senior inspector of Govandi Police station. "The doctor was manhandled, whereas the technician was hit with a rod. Of the three accused we have arrested Balu Markesh, 19. Two others are yet to be arrested," said Mane.

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