A Shiv Sena corporator from the Eknath Shinde's camp and several of his supporters allegedly assaulted two doctors and hospital staff at a civic hospital in Kalyan-Dombivli on Monday. The incident resulted in protests by medical workers and disrupting outpatient services across government healthcare facilities.
The incident took place at Shastrinagar Hospital in Dombivli after a dispute over the unavailability of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit beds.
According to hospital officials, a woman admitted for childbirth underwent a caesarean section, after which doctors found that the newborn required specialised care as the umbilical cord had been wrapped twice around the baby's neck. Since the hospital's NICU was full, gynaecologists Dr Srushti Baviskar and Dr Vaibhav Salunkhe advised the family to shift the infant to another hospital.
The doctors alleged that the patient's relatives then contacted Shiv Sena corporator Ramesh Mhatre. As the medical team was attending to other patients, they could not answer his calls. Mhatre later arrived at the hospital with a few men and allegedly assaulted the doctors.
CCTV footage from the hospital, which has surfaced on social media, purportedly shows Mhatre and his associates punching and slapping hospital staff inside a room. In the video, a woman doctor is seen trying to use her mobile phone before she is struck from behind, causing the phone to fall from her hand. Two nurses, Namita Ubale and Dravya Giri, were also allegedly pushed and manhandled while trying to intervene.
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Doctors claimed Mhatre verbally abused them and threatened staff while leaving the hospital. Dr Salunkhe reportedly sustained injuries in the assault.
Following the incident, hospital employees staged protests demanding action. OPD services at several government hospitals and health centres were suspended, although emergency services continued.
KDMC Commissioner Abhinay Goyal said an FIR has been registered against Mhatre for attacking doctors and medical staff on duty. Police have begun investigating the case.
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