Protest erupts at Malda Medical College Hospital over Tribal woman's death

Malda: Following the death of a 26-year-old woman at the Malda Medical College & Hospital (MMCH), allegedly due to medical negligence, a protest has erupted in Aiho. On Saturday, over 200 Adivasis blocked the Malda-Nalagola state highway for about one-and-a-half hours, demanding justice for the woman's death.

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By February 19, as her condition deteriorated, the family insisted on returning to MMCH, where she was re-admitted. However, the family claimed that no substantial treatment was administered, and surgery was only performed when her condition became critical. Despite the surgery, the woman succumbed to her illness.

Relatives of the deceased filed a formal complaint with the Habibpur police station on Friday, naming a doctor and the MMCH authorities in the case. They argued that the patient could have survived if the surgery had been performed earlier.

In response, Prasenjit Bar, the medical superintendent and vice-principal of MMCH, stated that the hospital had arranged for all possible care for Murmu.

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The protesters, who had blocked the highway at Aiho, lifted the blockade around 1 pm after police officials intervened.

Medical dialogues had earlier reported that in another case of violence against doctors, the kin of a patient ransacked a hospital facility and assaulted on-duty junior doctors after a patient died of snake bites at Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH). Following the incident, almost 100 junior doctors staged a sit-in protest, demanding adequate security for the medical staff and on-duty junior doctors.

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