Amid the nation-wide talk about the safety of resident doctors in the aftermath of RG Kar hospital rape and murder case in Kolkata, the medical workers still continue to remain vulnerable as they faced harassment in two Delhi government hospitals including Safdarjung hospital where a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer allegedly verbally abused a doctor on duty, over the treatment of his wife. A CCTV video, purportedly showing the incident, depicted the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Armed Police and Training in Puducherry, angrily gesturing at the doctor and pointing his finger towards him.

However, no police case has been filed in both the cases even though the Central government had asked heads of all government hospitals in the country to register an institutional FIR within six hours of any incident of violence against an on-duty healthcare worker in the wake of the RG Kar rape and murder case that happened in Kolkata.

After the incident, doctors started sharing their concerns, raising questions about the behavior of people toward healthcare workers. Expressing his displeasure over the incident, a doctor on X said, “Brijendra Kumar Yadav, DGP Pondicherry disgraced his position and abused power by threatening and verbally assaulting a young on duty resident doctor treating his wife at Safdarjung Hospital. We turn to the police when we are assaulted. What to do when a top police officer becomes the perpetrator of aggression?”

In the first instance at Safdarjung hospital, the incident led operations in the emergency ward being temporarily halted. The wife of Brijendra Kumar Yadav had been admitted to the hospital for postoperative care following surgery at the hospital’s Sports Injury Centre (SIC).

Although the CCTV footage had no sound, the man’s body language clearly conveyed hostility. Later, the official X handle of the Resident Doctors’ Association of Safdarjung Hospital shared an audio clip of the incident. In the clip, a man can be heard saying, “I have studied twice as much as you, so don’t think you are indispensable.”

Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) also issued a press release strongly condemning the incident of verbal harassment and bullying faced by a general surgery postgraduate resident of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital Delhi on duty.

“The concerned person, Brijendra Kumar Yadav (IPS Officer) Batch 2010 AGMUT Cadre, and husband of patient Anita Roy (admitted to the seventh floor of the SIC building), engaged in behaviour that was both disgraceful and unacceptable. Such actions, particularly by a senior government official, are highly condemnable and violate the dignity of healthcare professionals who work tirelessly to serve patients,” they said, demanding an apology from Yadav.

In another incident that took place in GTB hospital, a male patient, allegedly drunk, created ruckus in the neurosurgery department during treatment, breaking fixtures and threatening doctors on duty.

According to a statement by the Resident Doctors’ Association of the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) and GTB Hospital, on Monday evening, a patient became violent during an examination, abused doctors, nurses, and staff on duty, and attempted to assault them. The patient also broke cabin partitions and smashed glass fixtures, it said.

“There was an incident of verbal abuse in the Neurosurgery Department, where a patient not only abused the doctor on duty but also vandalised hospital property,” RDA President Rajat Sharma said, adding that the RDA submitted a letter reporting the violence to the administration but no FIR was filed yet. “Such acts of violence against resident doctors are unacceptable.” He said the association has been consistently demanding an increase in security measures and deployment of more guards. “Despite our repeated appeals, no action has been taken on this matter,” he said.

“Another premiere hospital vandalised and open rape threats given to doctors-on-duty in Delhi in UCMS & GTB Hospital. They verbally abusing and threatening the on-duty doctor with vile comments like ‘Come outside, we will rape your sister’!” tweeted FAIMA from its official handle.