A premiere hospital in Kolkata was vandalised by an angry mob on Wednesday after a 16-year-old girl died due to alleged medical negligence.
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Hundreds of youths, including the family members of the girl, stormed the CMRI hospital at Alipore around 9 am and assaulted the staff and management board members. The mob also damaged furniture and laboratory equipments. Several people, including the CEO of the hospital, were injured—some of them critically. Protesters also blocked the Diamond Harbour road.
Tension began after Muskan Khatun, a resident of Ekbalpur, who was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night with stomach pain, died on Wednesday morning.
"Without treating her, doctors demanded money from us for surgery. We told them that we would pay the amount and requested them to do whatever necessary," said Shaukat Ali, uncle of the girl.
Hospital sources said Muskan was diagnosed with chronic pancreatic disease. However, it is not immediately clear why the surgery was not carried out on her.
The incident happened a couple of days after West Bengal Assembly passed a bill saying destroying of public or private properties would be dealt with penal action by the government. That means money for rebuilding properties would be taken from people who destroyed them. According to CMRI hospital, properties worth around Rs 5 crore have been damaged.
