Attack on senior cardiologist: Court grants bail to five accused in Kozhikode

Kozhikode: The Principal Session Court in Kozhikode granted bail to all the five accused in connection with the violence case of a senior cardiologist attached to Fathima Hospital in the city. 

The accused were arrested in March for allegedly attacking a cardiologist at the hospital over an alleged delay in a pregnant woman's treatment. The grief of losing a newborn led to the rise of this incident.

The two accused have been identified as the husband of the patient who lost her newborn baby at the hospital in February and the other persons are the relative of the patient.

Although five people were reportedly involved in the case, only three were arrested and the remaining were at large. However, the remaining accused is reported to have been remanded in judicial custody by the Fourth Judicial First Class Magistrate Court later. 

After surrendering before the judge, the main two accused were granted bail on Monday. Similarly, the remaining three accused were granted bail on Wednesday.

Also read- Miscreants Break Senior Cardiologist's Nose For Alleged Delay In Treatment, Kerala Doctors See Red

It came to light that the accused approached the Principal Session Court after their anticipatory bail application was rejected at the Additional Sessions Court. Therefore, all five accused presented themselves at the Principal Session Court and surrendered before the judge. In this regard, they have been released on bail, TH reports.

Contrary to this, the doctor who was attacked raised his voice against the bail order and decided to approach the Kerala High Court. 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported how the doctor’s association reacted to the incident by staging a statewide protest. The Kerala Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) held their dawn-to-dusk statewide strike, as announced many days ago, to protest against the increasing number of attacks on doctors and demand for immediate arrest of the accused in connection with an attack on a Kozhikode-based senior cardiologist at Fathima Hospital.

The protest was carried out in all district headquarters by doctors from private and government hospitals, along with members of IMA and over 40 professional associations of doctors and hospital management joining the strike.

The strike was called in a protest against the delay in arresting the accused involved in attacking a Kozhikode-based senior cardiologist at Fathima Hospital and the state government's failure to act despite numerous court interventions.

The IMA expressed deep concern about the rising number of attacks on health workers in the state. The medical body claimed that the cases have increased in the past three years.

The doctors claimed that the husband of the patient and those who accompanied him stirred up a commotion inside the hospital by shouting accusations that the doctors were intentionally delaying the CT scan report. They broke the glass wall that separates the nurses' area.

Even though the doctors concerned left the scene, the group attacked the senior cardiologist when he returned to the hospital. According to reports, the miscreants pushed the doctor and he fell. He sustained injuries, his nose broken and some teeth dislodged. All of these took place despite the presence of the police.

The patient's family alleged that even after giving birth and losing the baby, they needed to undergo a lot of trouble and endure unbearable pain. Additionally, they said that the hospital hid its errors by purposely delaying the findings of the CT scan.

Also read- Attacks On Doctors: Kerala Doctors Stage 12 Hr Strike, No Response From Govt Yet