A 23-year-old doctor was stabbed to death on Wednesday by a man whose leg wound she was dressing at a hospital in Kerala’s Kollam district where he was brought after an alleged fight with his family members.
Dismayed over the killing of the young doctor, the Kerala High Court said the incident was an outcome of police and government failure and sought a report regarding the incident from the state police chief who was also asked to be present virtually when the matter is taken up on Thursday morning.
Coming down hard on the government and the police, the HC bench said it indicated their “failure” to protect doctors and was a “complete breakdown of the protectional system”.
According to ADGP Law and Order M R Ajith Kumar, the incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday when the accused, identified as Sandeep, a school teacher by profession, was being taken to the hospital for treatment of the wounds he had suffered allegedly due to a quarrel.
While the wound was being dressed by Dr Vandana Das, he suddenly got provoked and attacked everyone standing there using a pair of scissors and scalpel.
Das, who suffered grievous injuries in the attack, died a few hours later. The accused was apprehended.
The ADGP said that Sandeep had called on the emergency number 112 claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing 10-15 metres away from his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg.
He was taken to the hospital in a police jeep and was accompanied by his brother-in-law and a local political party leader. While being examined by the casualty doctor, Sandeep was calm, the officer told reporters.
However, while his wound was being dressed, only his brother-in-law and the local political leader were present, and during the procedure, he kicked the relative. Thereafter, he grabbed a pair of surgical scissors and attacked those present in the room. When the police personnel, including an officer present at the aid station, and a home guard tried to stop him, he slashed at them too with the weapon, Kumar said.
While the other doctors escaped to safety, the victim could not, and he turned on her and repeatedly stabbed her, the officer said.
Kumar said that the man was not put in restraints as he was the one who had called the police for help and was calm while being examined by the casualty doctor.
The brunt of the attack was borne by the young doctor Vandana Das while the police personnel who accompanied the man were also injured. She was rushed to a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram but could not be saved.
