Doctors and nurses could be seen on the premises trying to erect their protest tents again. They had been holding a peaceful protest since last Friday over the rape and murder of a junior doctor on the campus of the medical college – an incident that has sent shockwaves across the country and triggered nation-wide protests by doctors.
However, in the early hours of Tuesday – soon after midnight – hundreds of people reached the hospital, chased away and assaulted protesters, and ransacked the protest site. They then barged into the Emergency building, and ransacked the rooms on the ground floor – one by one – using sticks and hammers.
The police did not come to their help, said the protesters. “We were attacked at around midnight. The police ran faster than us. The goons beat some of us and ransacked the area. We are terrorised. They tried to break us, but our spirit to protest is still intact,” a protesting doctor, who did not want to be named, said.
The violence came on the same night that ‘Reclaim the Night’ demonstrations, calling for women’s safety, were held in Kolkata and across the state.
It was in a seminar room on the fourth floor of the Emergency building that the 31-year-old doctor’s body was found last week. According to police, the “miscreants” who barged into the building early Thursday did not reach the fourth floor.
At the ground floor, the cardiology emergency section, the admissions room, the medical officers room, the tele-neuro medicine room, the nurses’ room, and the Emergency wards lay ransacked. Sophisticated equipment, including life support systems, were damaged.
The miscreants also entered the storeroom and broke open safes containing medicines. The ENT department was vandalised, too.
Desktop computers, laptops, lights, and fans were broken across rooms. Bathrooms were destroyed, and the chairs and beds meant for patients and their attendants were also not spared.
A doctor who was at the protest site when the vandals barged in said, “We have been holding a peaceful agitation for the last six days. We called for help from police who did not come to our rescue. The miscreants actually targeted us.”
One of a group of nurses who were also involved in the protest said: “We helpless last night. How will we work like this? Our safety and security must be ensured by the administration and police.”
Thursday saw massive police deployment at the site.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose also reached the spot and met protesters who narrated the incident. “We will take exemplary action. I will take suggestions from you, too. We will work together,” Bose told them.
Meanwhile, the SUCI has called for a 12-hour bandh in Bengal to protest against the midnight attack on protesting doctors.
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