Doctors and staffers at Delhi’s Apollo hospital were attacked on Tuesday, 27 April, by the attendants of a woman in her 60s, who died in the COVID-19 emergency ward due to unavailability of ICU beds.
The clash, which left some people injured and hospital property damaged, occurred between 8 am and 10 am. The police arrived an hour later.
"We got a call around 9 am and reached and learned that an old woman had died in the morning. This sparked arguments between her relatives and the hospital staffers, which was followed by a scuffle. No one was injured and no complaint was received from the relatives or the hospital," a police officer was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
However, videos of the incident, which show the floor of the Emergency Medicine block splattered with blood, surfaced on social media soon after.
Hospital authorities told ANI that the "attendants got violent after the patient died” and that this was usual.
Another video shows a fight outside the hospital building, A staffer is seen hitting a man with a stick. He is followed by two-three security guards. In another clip, relatives of the woman fight with staffers and hit them.
A woman can be heard screaming "Maaro usko, sahi baat hain (Hit him, that's right)."
“The situation was brought under control by hospital security staff and the police. While the hospital deeply condoles the death of the patient, it is deeply shocked at the behaviour of the patient’s family against doctors and healthcare workers who are providing untiring services amidst the pandemic,” the hospital said in a statement issued in the evening, The Indian Express reported.
Delhi, like other parts of the country, is battling a catastrophic wave of COVID-19 infections, which has unravelled the city’s healthcare infrastructure, leaving hospitals and crematoriums overburdened.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)