Chikkamagaluru: The doctors and staff at the district hospital in Chikkamagaluru shut down the outpatient department and staged a protest after a woman allegedly dragged a doctor and hurled footwear at him here on Tuesday. The police have arrested two persons --- Tasleema and Irfan --- on the charge of assualting the doctor.
Irshad, who was injured in an altercation, had come to Araluguppe Mallegowda District Hospital in Chikkamagaluru for treatment. While orthopaedic specialist Dr B S Venkatesh was examining him in the emergency ward, a group of his relatives entered the ward together.
An argument ensued after the doctor asked them to move out of the emergency ward to facilitate him to examine the injured.
Tasleema, a relative of Irshad, grabbed the doctor by the collar and pulled him. Later, she removed her footwear and hurled at him. Immediately, all the doctors and staff at the hospital shut down the OPD and gathered in front of the office of the district surgeon and demanded the arrest of all the people involved in the assault on the doctor. Patients, who came for check-ups, struggled due to the absence of doctors and staff following the protest.
The medical staff insisted that they would not stop the protest until a case was registered and the accused were arrested. All the protesters proceeded in a procession to the town police station and filed a complaint. Bajrang Dal and Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists, who had gathered near the town police station, demanded the arrest of the accused. The police, registered an FIR and arrested the two.
On the other hand, Tasleema lodged a counter-complaint accusing Dr Venkatesh of verbally abusing her in offensive language. Muslim leaders gathered in front of the women’s police station after this. The police have registered a non-cognizable complaint.