The alleged assault on a woman patient at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) recently has assumed political overtones.
Following the arrest and suspension of M.M. Saseendran, a hospital staff, in connection with the case, pro-Left and pro-Congress staff unions have been raising allegations against each other.
According to sources, the woman patient was helped by a nursing staff to lodge a complaint against Saseendran. It has been now claimed that the nursing staff, who belongs to a pro-Congress staff union, was threatened by a functionary of the NGO Union, a pro-Left staff union, for speaking up against Saseendran. She was also threatened of being suspended from service.
Meanwhile, five other staff of the medical college were suspended and a temporary staff was terminated from service for allegedly trying to intimidate and persuade the woman patient to withdraw the complaint against Saseendran. They are reportedly absconding. The medical college police have taken Saseendran into custody for collecting evidence in the assault case.
In the past few days, both the Congress and NGO Association, the party affiliated staff union, have been staging protests outside the hospital, claiming that the authorities are not taking the complaint by the nursing staff against the NGO Union leader seriously. They also alleged that the complaint was yet to be forwarded to the police. It is learnt that the medical college authorities are conducting an internal inquiry into the complaint.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of the pro-Left Federation of State Employees and Teachers Organisation to take out a protest and stage a demonstration on the hospital premises. They claimed that efforts were being made to defame the medical college and the NGO Union and spread a false propaganda against them. A collective of nurses, meanwhile, is planning to stage a demonstration outside the college principal’s office on Wednesday seeking action against the NGO Union leader.
