On Tuesday, doctors in the Health Service in the district boycotted outpatient clinics for an hour in protest against the alleged police inaction to arrest those responsible for unchecking a violent attack on the doctors on duty at the Pallickal community health centre which happened in broad daylight on Saturday.

Doctors, led by the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association, staged a protest dharna in front of General Hospital and were joined by members of other doctors’ forums, the Indian Medical Association, Kerala Government Insurance Medical Officers’ Association, and Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association.

The doctors said they were being singled out and attacked due to lack of a safe working environment which is affecting the morale and confidence of doctors working in the public sector.

The law enacted by the State in 2012, the Kerala Health Service Persons and Healthcare Services Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act, protects the rights of patients, doctors and hospital properties in any occurrence of an attack. Assaulting a doctor or hospital staff can invite imprisonment up to three years and a fine of ₹50,000.

But, this has remained only on paper, as police rarely charges cases under the said Act. The doctors said till now, in spite of several occurrences of violence against hospitals and doctors, not a single person had been convicted under the Act. The KGMOA said that in all cases, police inaction was responsible in ensuring that no justice was done to doctors.

On Saturday, the woman doctor who was on duty at the Pallickal CHC sustained injuries after the furious relatives of a patient resorted to violence and destroyed the hospital property. Even though, the local police had charged a case against two persons but no one has been arrested so far. The doctors alleged the involvement of the local police in making sure that those responsible for the attack were not arrested. The KGMOA has threatened to go on an agitation if the offenders were not arrested immediately.