Mumbai Doctor arrested for assaulting Journalist

Mumbai: A doctor posted at New Noor Hospital has been arrested for allegedly attacking a journalist for investigating a case of medical negligence allegations made by a patient's mother.

A journalist working with an online news portal visited the hospital to investigate a case of alleged medical negligence after a mother of an 11-year-old patient informed him of the ignorance displayed against her daughter.

In order to probe the claims, the journalist took a record of the patient's side of the story and visited the hospital to get the viewpoints of the hospital's authorities regarding the negligence. He was along with his two other colleagues, including a female journalist, to cover the story.

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While they were recording the visuals of the hospital gate and premises, the accused Dr. Khan and three other hospital staff went outside to talk with the journalists. The doctor said that they cannot record the visual of the hospital and directed them to return back. Opposing the decision, the journalist disagreed and they got into a heated argument.

As per HT reports, the accused and other staff brutally assaulted the journalist and manhandled his colleagues at 11: 30 pm on Sunday. The doctor and others injured the journalist's face after beating him brutally and he was later taken to Sion hospital by other journalists who reached the spot when the journalist contacted them with his face drenched in blood.

On receiving the information, Kurla police investigated the hospital and arrested the doctor. Assistant commissioner of police Govind Gambhire, Kurla division said "We have arrested Khan and are working on apprehending the other three accused, who are currently wanted."

An FIR was registered against the doctor and three others under Section 351 (Assault), Section 503 (criminal intimidation), and Section 354 (assault or criminal force to outrage a woman's modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.

The police also investigated the medical negligence allegation made by the patient's mother and found that the hospital authorities returned them back based on New Noor Hospital being a general and not a pediatric hospital.

When asked, Senior police inspector Ravindra Howale said "The hospital authorities have said that the woman's daughter was facing some issues which could be treated better at a pediatric hospital, while New Noor is a general hospital. Hence, she was asked to go to a paediatric hospital. We are probing this aspect separately."

After the journalist was discharged from the hospital the next morning, he told HT "I would like to thank everyone who stood by me when I needed them. One accused has already been arrested and others will hopefully be nabbed soon. If the allegations of negligence against them are true, they should face the strictest action for that as well."

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