Medical services were paralysed in Sitamarhi town on Sunday after doctors of the sadar hospital went on strike to protest against an assault on their colleagues by relatives of a woman who died in the morning.

Razia Khatun, 32, a resident of Madaripur village under the jurisdiction of Bajpatti police station in the district, was admitted to the sadar hospital on Saturday afternoon after she complained of labour pain.

She gave birth to a girl and was discharged a few hours later. The woman was again brought to the hospital in a critical condition around 9.45pm on Saturday. A.K. Jha, who was on duty, provided treatment and called his colleague Dr Sudha to look after Razia. The patient died in the early hours of Sunday.

Agitated over the death, her husband Noor Alam and with 50-odd associates ransacked the emergency ward, labour room and doctors’ chambers and assaulted Dr Jha and other paramedical employees on duty.

They also set the furniture and other equipment at the hospital on fire. The doctors and hospital staff were forced to flee. The situation was brought under control after intervention of senior administrative officers, including district magistrate Ashwini D. Thakre and superintendent of police Vivek Kumar.

The doctors of the hospital went on strike demanding adequate security.

“They held an emergency meeting. A delegation called on me and submitted a memorandum threatening to go on indefinite strike if action was not taken against the culprits within 24 hours. Such attacks have become common in the district. It is difficult to work in such conditions,” said Sitamarhi civil surgeon Om Prakash Panjiyar.

He added: “We are trying to start the emergency services as early as possible.”

Sitamarhi superintendent of police Vivek Kumar said two FIRs have been lodged in the case.