Cops arrest four accused after a chase; Public stage protest

K.R. Pet: Alleging that a medical staff had misbehaved with a female patient, four youths reportedly assaulted a male nurse and a doctor who had come to his rescue at K.R. Pet Taluk Hospital late on Tuesday night. The Police, who arrived at the spot, chased the fleeing accused in a filmy style and have arrested them.

The arrested are 22-year-old Paramesh, 23-year-old K.R. Vinod, 21-year-old K.S. Darshan and 22-year-old Vijay alias Prem, all residents of various localities in the town.

Details: On Wednesday at about 1.30 am, four youths brought a girl to the Taluk Hospital and told the duty doctor that the girl had fallen sick and asked the doctor to treat the girl immediately.

Dr. Srikanth, who was on duty, provided treatment and told the youths that she was alright and they can take her home. But before Dr. Srikanth treated the girl, Staff Nurse Ranganath, had checked the Blood Pressure (BP) of the girl and on instruction from the doctor administered an injection and also Intravenous (IV) Fluid.

After the treatment, Ranganath again checked the BP of the girl during which the four youths accused Ranganath of misbehaving with the girl and brutally assaulted him. They (accused) also dragged Ranganath out of the hospital and hit him brutally with a stick. Meanwhile, Dr. Srikanth, who rushed to the rescue of Nurse Ranganath, was also assaulted brutally resulting in injuries to Dr. Srikanth and also Ranganath.

The staff of the hospital, who saw the doctor and the nurse being assaulted, immediately informed the Police, who rushed to the hospital and rescued Dr. Srikanth and Ranganath.

Meanwhile, the four accused, on seeing the Police, fled from the spot and the Cops, who chased the accused in a filmy style were successful in nabbing the four youths. The four youths were produced before a Magistrate yesterday morning, who remanded the accused to judicial custody.

Public stage protest: Following the assault on the doctor and medical staff, members of pro-Kannada organisations and public staged a protest in front of the hospital yesterday morning demanding stringent action against the accused and also urged for opening a Police Station in the hospital premises besides seeking security to medical staff.

Following the protest, Mandya District Health Officer (DHO) Dr. Dhananjay, along with Taluk Health Officer (THO) Dr. Madhusudan and Taluk Hospital Administrative Officer Dr. Ravi, visited the protest venue and assured the protesters of initiating stringent action against the accused and also told the agitators of taking steps to prevent such incidents from taking place in future.

Meanwhile, Circle Inspector Deepak assured the protesters of opening a Police Outpost in the hospital premises, following which the protest was withdrawn.

Leaders Kai Manjegowda, Sadhugonahalli Loki, Dayanand, Yogesh, Dileep, A.C. Kantharaju, Sameer and others took part in the protest.