Police lathicharge protesters outside Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital in Muzaffarpur on Friday. Picture by Prakash Kumar

Muzaffarpur, Sept. 16: Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) authorities had to face the ire of the relatives of a patient today after she delivered a stillborn.

The attendants of the patient assaulted the on-duty nurse and took to streets to protest the newborn’s death during delivery.

Later, the nurses and para medical staff of Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) went on a strike this morning after the nurse was assaulted.

Rani Devi of Shahbazpur village was admitted to the gynaecology ward of the hospital a few days ago. She, however, gave birth to a dead baby boy this morning.

The attendants of the patient beat up the on-duty nurse, Madhu Bala, for the delivery. The attendants said negligence on the part of the nurse led to the delivery of a dead child. “Had the nurse acted swiftly, a Caesarean could have been performed on Rani and the child could have been saved,” alleged Shyam Kumar, an attendant of Rani. She was having a normal delivery.

Angry over the alleged carelessness of the nurse, hundreds of villagers from Shahbazpur gheraoed the hospital in the morning.

They beat up Madhu in front of other patients and also jostled with the security guards of the hospital who came to the nurse’s rescue.

They also threatened the other nurses who protested against the assault.

The nurses, then went on a strike, to protest against the growing incidents of violence against nurses and doctors.

Superintendent of SKMCH Dr. G.K. Thakur said: “All the nurses, who went on strike to vent anger over the assault on Madhu, have returned to work.” Meanwhile, the attendants of the patient who put up a road blockade on National Highway 77 Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi road outside the SKMCH for three hours, had to face the heat of the police.

State Auxiliary Police personnel, led by the station house officer of Ahiyapur, Amrendra Jha, arrived and resorted to lathi charge to disperse the protesters. The protesters also suffered injuries during the lathicharge.

However, at the end, the police could finally vacate the area where the protest was underway.