Five workers of Shiv Sena led by one of the corporators were booked at the civic hospital in the Thane district in Maharashtra after a video of their attack on doctors and nurses went viral on social media. The attack happened at Kalyan’s Rukminibai Hospital, and revolved medical practitioners as well as causing strong political responses.
Police said that on the issue of treatment of a pregnant woman, there had been a dispute between the doctors Srishti Bawiskar and Vaibhav Salunkhe and the police officers, in which corporator Ramesh Sukrya Mhatre and his associates allegedly attacked the doctors and the nurses, Namita Ubale and Dravya Giri.
Hospital authorities had informed that the patient had been shifted to Mumbai’s Sion hospital due to the baby having a double umbilical cord wound around its neck while all the beds in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Kalyan hospital were occupied. The woman was rushed to another maternity hospital, safely where she gave birth to her baby.
As a result of this incident, the doctors and hospital employees also went on a “stop-work” strike and called for action as a result of the incidents.
The attack has also been the source of a political controversy as Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders have protested the incident. Reacting to the attack, Aaditya Thackeray questioned about the action and if the Maharashtra government would take action against the corporator. Reacting to Twitter accounts alleging ‘goondagiri’ against ex-Home Minister Arun Jaitley, he called upon the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to not tolerate such activities and directed the police to arrest the accused member and have “his authority removed”.
The police have registered a case and are investigating the incident based on the CCTV footage and witness statements.