High-Level Review Meeting In Bengal Over Women's Safety In Hospitals

After back-to-back cases of violence against women in West Bengal hospitals, a high-level review meeting was called at the state secretariat in Kolkata. It was chaired by the Chief Secretary and included the principals of all medical colleges of West Bengal.

The Director General of Police (DGP), Home Secretary, Health Secretary, and Kolkata Police Commissioner were also in attendance. The meeting began at noon to discuss security lapses and measures to be taken to ensure the safety of doctors as well as patients. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee joined the meeting via telephone.

The key focus of the meeting was on ensuring tight security in medical colleges with high footfall, police verification of contractual staff, and restricted entry for non-government agents in the hospitals.

On Wednesday, in the heart of Kolkata, at Bengal's premier postgraduate government medical college and hospital, Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), a minor was dragged to a toilet and raped. The accused, Amit Mallick, was identified by police as an ex-Group D staff member of Shambhu Nath Pandit Hospital and was arrested after CCTV footage was scanned and raids were conducted by the Kolkata Police. Reports claimed the accused had dressed as a doctor before misleading the minor, whose mother accompanied her to the hospital. The Kolkata Police Commissioner also visited the hospital to get a first-hand account after the incident.

In the adjoining district of Howrah, a junior doctor of the government-run Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Medical College and Hospital was threatened on duty on Monday. "I was examining a patient who wasn't cooperating and also kicked me. The patient's family then told me that I hadn't died due to the kick, and so I should carry on with my duty. The visiting hour was over; I informed them that a senior doctor would examine. One of them threatened me with life, twisted my arm, and said he was a senior police officer. I was assaulted by two men simultaneously," she told the media. Police arrested three persons named by the doctor in her FIR, including a traffic home guard.

While the incident in SSKM has raised questions about women's safety in the city, the medical colleges were asked what measures have been taken to ensure security guards have a clean background. A five-member enquiry committee has also been formed to probe the SSKM incident.

West Bengal minister Sashi Panja said, "If you look at the trauma care building at SSKM, it's a hotspot area, always crowded with people. In such a crowd, identifying a single individual isn't easy. You're talking about security, but if even more security is deployed in such a crowded space, won't that create more chaos? Still, the perpetrator has been arrested, and he is not a hospital staff member. Necessary action is being taken. The victim and her parents have faith in the investigation. I would request everyone to refrain from politicising or distorting the issue."

But that didn't deter the leader of the opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, from accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of failing to protect women in the state, despite having a woman Chief Minister. "I would urge the women in the state to say-'Amader Para, TMC Tara' (remove TMC from our locality), BJP will restore the dignity of women here," Adhikari said during a rally in Uttar Dinajpur.