Doctors have announced a shutdown in all public and private hospitals across the country demanding security, and trial of those involved in the beating and assaulting of doctors at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The doctors are pressing home their two-point demand, those involved in the assault must be arrested within the next 24 hours, and the security of physicians must be ensured. DMCH doctors told the media that the authorities have failed to accept both of these demands.
Around Saturday midnight, there was a lot of tension in the DMCH emergency department.
Sources say Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) student Ahsanul Haque Deepto, who was injured in a motorcycle accident in the city’s Cantonment area, died in the DMCH while undergoing treatment.
Alleging that he died due to the negligence of doctors, several people came to the hospital, entered the operation theater, beat the doctors, and vandalised the facility. Three doctors were injured in this incident.
Meanwhile, the same Saturday evening, one person was killed in an attack by one group on another with sharp weapons inside the DMCH emergency department. Army arrested four people, and confiscated a machete in connection with this incident.
Later that night, a patient – admitted to the hospital after drinking poison – died while undergoing treatment. The patient’s relatives assaulted a doctor over the death. This incident triggered a protest march at the hospital that night.
This chain of events caused the DMGB intern doctors to become more agitated. They gave an ultimatum to arrest those responsible within 24 hours. However, even before the 24-hour deadline ended, doctors at the DMCH launched a previously unannounced strike on Sunday morning.
Medical services of all DMCH wards, including the emergency and outpatient departments, have been closed. Later the DMCH doctors announced the shutdown of all hospitals across the country on Saturday noon.
