This Article is From Mar 29, 2018

Shocking Video From Kerala Hospital Shows Elderly Patient Tortured

The man seen twisting his fingers is a nursing assistant of the government-run hospital.

Shocking Video From Kerala Hospital Shows Elderly Patient Tortured

The nurse is seen holding the patient's hand and surreptitiously twisting his fingers

Thiruvananthapuram: A frail elderly man lying on a bed, whimpering in pain as a nursing attendant twists his twists his fingers: the cellphone video from a government hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, which is being widely circulated, has evoked anger and shock.

Doctors at Trivandrum Medical College said Vasu was admitted with a bone fracture. The man seen twisting his fingers has been identified as R Sunil Kumar, a nursing assistant of the government-run hospital.

In the video, the elderly man, lying bare-bodied on a hospital cot, is seen crying out in pain as the nursing attendant holds his hand and surreptitiously twists his fingers. The reason for the torture is not known.

There are other patients in the ward, but no one raises an alarm. The patient on the next bed does not even turn his head. No one comes to help the man.  It is not known who shot the video.

Before exiting the ward, the nursing assistant utters a guttural warning. He points to the patient and in a threatening gesture, indicates that he would beat him up if he complains or creates a scene.

Hospital sources say the incident must have taken place sometime between March 19 and 23, when the patient had remained admitted in the hospital for treatment. It became public only after the video was shared on social media over the last two days.

The Superintendent of the Trivandrum Medical College, MS Sharmad, has ordered an investigation into the incident. The nursing assistant has been suspended.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shylaja has condemned the incident. "We need to be making hospitals patient friendly. This action is completely intolerable," the minister said.

The Trivandrum Medical College is the oldest in the state. Its foundation stone was laid by Jawaharlal in 1951.
.